Harry Potter was an Only Child
by Siriusly Amused
Summary: COMPLETE! An AU fic where James and Lily lived, Harry is a normal wizard teen, and he has...SIBLINGS! But what happens when Harry finds out that he is living a life that shouldn't be?
1. Somebody Told Me

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! -waves- I am Siriusly Amused and this is my latest story! -indicates story- Let's see, what to say about it. Well first off, it's an alternate universe fic. All you need to know right now is that Voldemort was caught before James and Lily went into hiding; therefore, they didn't need to go into hiding, they didn't die, and Harry isn't some superstar with a scar on his forehead He's a normal seventh year wizard with loving parents, great friends, and...SIBLINGS!!! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters or places that JK Rowling has copyrighted.

Chapter One

_Somebody Told Me_

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The Potters were the nicest and most unusual people on the block. No one knew what James or Lily Potter did for a living, but they must have made money some how because they lived in an elegant, two-story, white house that had an immaculate garden that motivated the other wives on the street to work on their own gardens. The Potters received odd visitors at even odder times of the night, they owned more brooms than necessary, owls flew in and out of their windows frequently, and their children spent most of the year at some unknown boarding school, even though they had attended the same primary school as the rest of the town's children. They'd come home for the Christmas and summer holidays with their pockets full of frog spawn and beetles, loud explosions would come from their bedrooms and they would often be spotted on the roof with telescopes and what appeared to be homework.

Lucky for the Potters, however, the people in the town didn't seem to mind their oddities. In fact, they were quite intrigued by the family. Lily and James had moved into the house in their early twenties with their bouncing two-year-old son, Harry. They attended Sunday mass regularly, always helped out at town functions, and never minded babysitting an ungodly number of town children at once. Soon after they moved in, they had another child; a baby girl they named Gwyneth Dianna Potter. Two years later, another son came around whom they named Aiden Remus Potter.

The three Potter children were the entertainment of the town. Lithe , lean, and energetic, the three of them would often lead the other town children on wild adventures that usually resulted with the mall's security kicking them out. All of the Potter children had James' hair; wild and dark. The messy mane worked for the boys, but Gwen started using product on her hair to make it behave itself when she was twelve. Harry possessed Lily's remarkable eye color and Gwen and Aiden both had clear, sky blue eyes and none of them inherited James' poor eye sight.

Indeed, even with their strange ways, the Potters were the town favorite and all of the towns' teenagers would wait on pins and needles for early July when the three Potter children returned home from that boarding school of theirs...

All was right with the world. The sun was shining brightly, the birds chirping merrily, and Harry Potter was half awake and basking in the fact that he was still in bed. Yes, he was happy, or at least he was until he heard his bedroom door open, followed by a gaggle of giggles.

"Nooo," Harry moaned, keeping his eyes closed in the hopes that if he doesn't see them, they will go away. "Gwen, I'm in no mood to indulge your friends in their freaky fantasies."

"Aw, Harry, you're no fun," came his sister's reply and Harry could just imagine her putting her hands upon her hips in a frustrated fashion. Harry opened his eyes and saw that he was right. Sighing, he pushed off the covers and sat up, revealing the fact that he was shirtless and kindling numerous squeals from the assorted 15-year-olds. He winced and brought the sheets back over him.

"Gwen, come on, it's my birthday," he whined.

"Oh, fine, kill joy!" Gwen exclaimed while ushering her friends out of Harry's bedroom. "I've got another brother anyway." And before Harry could react, a stunned scream came from down the hall, followed by numerous obscenities.

"What the fuck are all of you doing in my room? Get the hell away from me!"

Harry ran from his room, trying not to laugh at the fact that his younger brother's threats were quite cute because he continually squeaked during them due to puberty. Sometimes his voice would be nearly baritone like James' and Harry's, and at other times he sounded much like a squirrel. Harry entered Aiden's room to find his brother, standing on his bed with his back to the wall while the girls surrounded him. He looked much like a deer in head lights.

"All right, girls, get out of his room, come on," Harry tried, pointing to the door, but the girls weren't listening. Several were commenting on Aiden's growth spurt over the past year while the others looked about his room.

"Another broom? Don't you guys have enough?"

"Oh, look, it's his school uniform!"

"Hey, it's green! Gwen, I thought you guys had red uniforms?"

"Aiden was put in a different house than Harry and I," Gwen exclaimed, sitting in the armchair in the corner, filing her nails while she let her friends pick her brothers apart.

"And damn proud of it too!" Aiden exclaimed from his position on the bed as two of Gwen's friends inched uncomfortably close to him. Harry smirked, Aiden was wearing his green pajama bottoms with an overly large green tank top. It had taken a good part of the year, but Aiden had finally forgiven himself for being Slytherin. One of the girls rested her hand on his tank top and gave Aiden a quick peck on the lips, making the boy blush and seem highly ill at ease.

Harry marched over to the armchair and forced his sister to get up by taking hold of her arm. "Gwyneth," he growled through his teeth.

"I'm know, I know, I'm leaving," she said, throwing her nail file onto the floor in a childish manner and stomping out of Aiden's room. Her friends gave Harry and Aiden one last look of longing before following her out, leaving the boys in the room, alone. Harry looked over to his brother who was still standing on his bed, a far off look in his eyes as he gently brushed his fingers across his lips.

"First kiss?" Harry asked, crossing his arms and smirking slightly.

Aiden quickly brought his hand away and nodded.

"Yeah, they stole my first kiss too," Harry reminisced. "But believe me, yours is less embarrassing. I was asleep and my mouth was hanging wide open with drool everywhere." Harry jumped upon the bed to join his brother, ruffling his hair. "You'll get a lot of firsts this year," he told him.

"Like beating you in Quidditch?" Aiden asked, grinning evilly.

"In your dreams, maybe," Harry answered, hitting Aiden's stomach and making him double over with an 'ooof'. Harry began to laugh as Aiden growled and chased him. The two boys ran down the hall and stairs and into the kitchen where Harry collided with James.

James caught Harry from falling just as Aiden skidded into them. "What the hell's going on?" he asked, though he was smiling.

"We're rough housing!" Aiden exclaimed, regaining his balance.

"Without me?" James' asked with a hurt expression, and with that he grabbed Harry and put him in a head lock. "How's the birthday boy this morning?" he asked, squeezing tightly around Harry's neck. "Just think, Harry, this time next year, I'm going to take you to a bar! We'll get pissed drunk and come home singing 'God Save the Queen'!"

"Oh no you won't!" came a female voice from behind them.

"Lily, he'll be eighteen and there'll be nothing you can do to stop us!" James protested, letting go of Harry and standing up straight to his wife.

"You'll be sleeping on the sofa for a month," Lily threatened.

James blanched. "Just think, Harry, by this time next year, I'll let you have a sip of my beer sometime."

"Much better," Lily stated, coming to Harry and giving him a hug. "Happy birthday, sweetie!" she exclaimed. "Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whip cream?" she asked, walking over to Aiden, who had meandered to the refrigerator, and giving him a hug as well before gently guiding him away from the snacks.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, sure. Just don't give a bottle of whip cream to the girls; they might get ideas."

Harry's parents both sent him cocky grins. "Kissed you again, did they?" James asked. Harry jerked his thumb to Aiden, setting off shrieks of delight from his parents.

"Harry, I'm going to kick your ass," Aiden exclaimed, chasing Harry into the living room. The boys fought briefly before Aiden decided that they should break out Harry's old baby videos to reminisce since he was now an adult.

"No!" Harry protested, plopping down on the sofa. "I had freaking chubby cheeks! Besides, you're in some of those movies too!"

"Yes, but I, unlike you, was a looker when I was young," Aiden explained, dragging out a large box that had 'baby movies' written on it in James' sloppy scrawl. Aiden knelt down and began rummaging through it. "Let's see, I don't want to watch your birth again. I can't believe Mum let them film that. Disgusting movie. Your first steps were quite amusing but...hello there, who are you?"

"Hmm?" Harry asked, slouching down on the couch and propping his bare feet onto the coffee table.

"There's an unmarked tape. Mum marks all the tapes diligently."

This perked Harry's interest. "Well let's see it then. Put it on."

Aiden went over to the TV and slipped the tape into the VCR. The eternal ant race flickered for a moment before an image of the dinner table that James and Lily owned in their first home came into focus. Sitting around that dinner table were four men in their early twenties playing poker. The boys recognized three of them. One was their father who sat with Harry on his lap. The man to his right was Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and best friend of James. Harry noted that Sirius didn't have a wedding ring yet, therefore this took place between his first steps and his first word. On James' left was Remus Lupin, everyone's favorite teacher at Hogwarts. He seemed to be loosing the game. The unknown man sat across from James and after several minutes, the boys found out that this man was named Peter.

Harry was beginning to wonder why his parents kept this video at all. It appeared to be nothing more than a boring poker game between the four friends to try to alleviate the pressures of the war. Even baby Harry was boring in this movie. At the beginning of the movie, Harry was bouncing around in James' lap, trying to grab his cards and making cooing noises. But now, Harry was quite still; his green eyes fixated on Peter.

"Whoa, look at that look you're giving Peter," Aiden mentioned from the floor. "Your eyes are As if you hate him. I don't think I've ever seen you give anyone a look like that."

Harry moved to the edge of the couch, leaning forward and placing his arms on his knees to get a better look. His baby self did look creepy. Like a child possessed by a demented teenager. Soon the other men in the movie noticed it as well. A chill fell over Harry even though the late morning sunshine flooded the living room and the smell of breakfast was beginning to fill the house. A dull throbbing was beginning to form in Harry's head. The throbbing intensified greatly as everyone in the movie turned to baby Harry.

"Harry, you looking at Uncle Peter?" James asked brightly in the movie, bouncing baby Harry up and down on his knee to try to get a smile out of him and not the look that babies should not possess.

"He's not my uncle," baby Harry stated, quite plainly, in perfect English. He had a high, baby voice, but it was tainted with an edge so great that he might as well have had the baritone one that Harry now used.

"Fucking hell," Aiden exclaimed under his breath. The pain in Harry's head was making it hard for him to concentrate on the movie, but he squinted his eyes and forced himself to ignore the it.

The men in the movie all jumped at Harry's first coherent sentence. James looked perturbed. "I don't know whether to get Lily or to run away screaming," James' announced, trying to lighten the mood, but all he accomplished was for Harry to revert his chilling glare at him instead of Peter.

"Why don't you do us all a favor _Dad_," baby Harry stated, putting a hint of venom in the word 'dad', "and put down your fucking cards and kill that bastard over there," he continued, pointing his chubby hand at Peter.

"Okay, this is getting a bit weird," Aiden stated. Harry ignored him and continued to focus on the movie, wishing he didn't have a searing pain on his forehead.

"What?" James' whispered.

"You heard me," baby Harry continued. "Check the bastard's arm. Haven't you wondered why he's been wearing long sleeves in August?"

At this, Peter made to get up, but Sirius and Remus were too quick for him. They got a hold of him and forced him to sit down. After a moment, Remus rolled up Peter's sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark. Peter struggled futilely as the other men gasped.

"The son of a bitch deceived you all. You and Mum had to go into hiding with me and you stupidly made him your Secret Keeper. He of course told Voldemort where you were. Voldemort came and killed the two of you and tried to kill me but Mum put a damn charm on me that allowed me to live what turned out to be a really shitty life. He then goes on to blackmail Sirius and so Sirius gets put into Azkaban for twelve years. He escaped during my third year only to live life on the run and die in my fifth year. You, Remus are still alive, but you're only a shell of a man. And I, heh, I made some really dumbass mistakes with my life and as a result Sirius died, Hagrid died, and my best friend, Ron, died as well. God has given me a second chance though. A few months ago, I would get glimpses of this night in my dreams and wake up with a headache. But now I'm here, so you three are going to torture this bastard and get Voldemort's whereabouts out of him, and he will break, let me assure you. You'll then go to Dumbledore, he will take care of Voldemort and we all live happily ever fucking after."

The movie went out after that. Aiden shivered. "You were a creepy...Harry?"

Harry was lying on the floor, jerking as if he was going through a seizure, his hands clamped firmly over his forehead.

"Harry!" Aiden exclaimed, going closer to his brother. "Mum, Dad, it's Harry!" he yelled. James and Lily rushed into the room; they immediately fell to the floor, next to their eldest son. Aiden watched as his parents removed Harry's hands from his face. Harry's forehead was bleeding. The blood dripped down into Harry's eyes from what appeared to be a lightning bolt cut.

Behind them, the movie flicked back on. The anguished screams of a tortured Peter sounded but all one saw was baby Harry, sitting on the table top, his eyes perfectly normal as he chewed on an abandoned card.

**End Author's Note:** I don't think I've ever written a story like this before. It started out all happy, didn't it? And now it's...well it's not happy, not really. This story will have happy moments in it, a nice look at how life may have been for Harry if Voldemort hadn't happened, but this is a sort of suspense story I guess. It has a plot and the whole demented baby Harry movie and Harry's reaction (including the lightning bolt cut) are important and will be explained soon. So please review and let me know what you think of the idea of the story and of the new characters. I put a lot of thought into my characterization for this fic (like I do all my fics, really). James and Lily are basically the characterization that most people at fan fiction give them. Harry is normal Harry, only slightly changed. He didn't grow up his harsh life, so he's more carefree, less serious, less moody (at least at the moment), and sadly, also less mature. Aiden is a lot like Harry and would be the exact same if he had been put into Gryffindor, but Slytherin has given him an edge (hence the swearing). And Gwen is very immature (you probably figured that out already). I'll develop all of their characters later...well of course I will...I'm going to let you guys go review before I really start to ramble.


	2. Smile Like You Mean It

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Comment on HH: **First off, I am getting into a Hogwarts High mood. A part of me wants to wait until Rupert gets back to see if he managed to keep any of it, but another part is just like eff it, I'll write it over. So there's a possibility that it might be updated soon.

**Author's Note: **Okay, I'm going to try to keep this story organized and answer questions as they're thrown at me instead of my usual, meaning to answer questions and sometimes doing it several chapters later and sometimes forgetting completely thing. Okay, first off -looks at reviews- Would you like to become a staff member of my C2? What the hell is a C2? I think of coke for some reason...-wanders off to educate herself on this C2 business- Hmm...doesn't sound bad...yeah sure, I'll be on your staff...granted I still don't know what staff members do. You shall receive an e-mail from me soon and thank you for putting Hogwarts High on your C2. Next question; -reads- Ah, this really isn't a question but I'll comment on it anyway. Straycat -waves to Straycat whom I've not heard from in awhile- suggests that I have less swearing in this fic. I hadn't intended to have so much swearing to tell you the truth, but when I write, I don't think...my stories are always deep in my subconscious and when I sit down at a computer they immediately flow through my arms like electricity and I have no control over what I'm left with. I had intended for this to be a PG-13 fic, but when I finished I realized that I did use some really strong language. I pondered about changing it for awhile but decided to keep it and up the rating instead because the cursing seemed to be appropriate for the characterization. The majority of the cursing came from baby Harry and that was because he was possessed at the time by 17-year-old, I had a shitty life, Ron just died and we're losing war and our minds Harry, therefore that just added character and was needed. Next question, yes, the normal cast such as Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Malfoy will be in it, though I haven't decided how much. Okay, one last thing to cover and this HUGE AN will be done and I can let you guys go read. Harry is 17 and will be going into his 7th year. Gwen turned 15 in the spring (aka, several months before Harry's b-day ((I haven't decided March, April, or May yet))) and will be going into her fifth year. Aiden is 12 and will be going into his second year but he turns 13 in October.

Chapter Two

_Smile Like You Mean It_

Harry leaned forward and rested his forehead against the cool tile of the shower wall, the jet of water cascading from the showerhead matted his hair and ran down his back. He had awoken just a mere ten minutes before and found himself, lying on his back, on the living room floor. His parents and brother hovered over him, all of them with looks of great concern plastered upon their faces. He heard screams from the TV but was too scared to look at it; instead, he focused on the three people standing above him. He wanted an explanation, but none of them were talking.

"Aiden," James said at last, retching his eyes off of Harry to look at his youngest child. Aiden continued to look at Harry and made no inclination that he had heard his father. "Go upstairs and tell the girls that they have to go home now. If they ask why just say it's because of Harry's birthday and they're welcome to take a doughnut from the tray by the door," James continued, pulling out his wand and waving it in the front door's general direction. "If Gwen puts up a fuss, let me know and I'll ground her."

Slowly, Aiden nodded, but he stayed rooted to the spot. A tingling sensation had manifested itself on Harry's forehead. It felt much like the foot does when it falls asleep.

"Whoa," Aiden commented under his breath, his sky blue eyes staring with awe at the spot just above Harry's eye.

"Do as your father tells you, Aiden," Lily stated, gently guiding Aiden to the direction of the stairs. Aiden went, looking back at Harry several times before he disappeared up the stairs. Harry continued to lie on his back, the screaming from the movie subsided as the movie ran out of film and it was all beginning to seem like some horrible nightmare. Harry was about to write it off as one until he blinked away something warm. Bringing a hand up to investigate, he found that he had been bleeding. Slowly he sat up and looked at his parents. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Go take a shower and get dressed, Harry," Lily suggested with a false brightness. "Sirius and Nick will be arriving soon and Remus and his family will be here for dinner." Lily smiled at her son and walked around him, heading back to the kitchen. James reached down and offered Harry a hand to help him up. Unthinkingly, Harry accepted with the hand he used to wipe the blood away; it smeared James' hand as Harry stood. James didn't seem to mind.

"So that's it?" Harry asked, using all the self control he had to keep the anger out of his voice, now was not the time to sound like that baby. "No explanation?"

James sighed. "We'll talk about it later tonight when Sirius and Remus are here. For now, just smile and enjoy your birthday."

Harry watched with incredulity as his father side-stepped him and went to join Lily in the kitchen. Harry remained in the living room. "Lily, I want pork chops for dinner," sounded and shook Harry from his reverie, forcing him to ascend the stairs. He heard whispers when he reached the second landing; Aiden was telling Gwen (her friends long gone) what had happened. Harry passed Gwen's room in what seemed like slow motion, gazing in at his younger siblings who stood very close together, their arms crossed as they looked at Harry as they would someone who had just done something vile.

Harry walked on and locked himself in the bathroom. It took him several minutes before he could look at himself in the mirror. His eyes looked normal, their brilliant shade of green and past the worry shown a hint of brightness of a carefree teenage boy. Not the haunted look that the baby possessed. Fragments of dried blood lingered just above his right eye, but there was no trace of a cut, which confused Harry greatly. Had he sweated blood? Harry ran the water from the sink and washed his face. When he was finished, he leaned in close to the mirror to figure out the origin of the blood. He nearly gave up when he spotted something. A very thin, white line shaped like a lightning bolt

He was confused, but he decided not to worry about it. His parents didn't seem worried, so why should he be? He gave a bitter laugh as he shed his pajamas and took a shower, pausing every now and then to ponder the incident before laughing it off. He wrapped a towel firmly around his waist after his shower and padded down the hallway to his bedroom to get dressed.

"Take it off, Harry! Take it all off!"

Coming into his bedroom, Harry was greeted by Nick, who had been lying on his bed, casually flipping through a magazine, but was now on his feet, standing in front of Harry with his hands on either side of Harry's face as he tried frantically to kiss Harry in jest. Keeping one hand firmly on his towel to keep it from falling, Harry used the other to push his best friend away. After a short struggle (Nick had noticeably grown over the past month) Nick backed off, his long, black locks falling into his deep blue eyes in a graceful manner that Harry could never manage with his own hair.

Nicholas Sirius James Black was the only son of Sirius Black. Emphasis on the 'the'. Sirius had met Nick's mother, Kate, shortly after the war ended. She was his equal in physical appearance and in personality. They dated for a short time before deciding to get married. At first people were shocked to hear the news, but then they realized that it was Sirius and he always did things on the spur of the moment and followed his heart. The wedding was small with only close friends and family. Nine months later, just a month before Gwen popped out, Nick was born and Kate died. It was the type of labor complication that magic couldn't solve. The type where the parents have to choose between the baby's life and the life of the mother.

Sirius was broken-hearted but refused to let it control his life. He believed that there were worse ways for couples to be separated. Besides, he now had a bouncing baby boy to take care of. Nick was blessed with Sirius' looks. Seventh year girls had gushed over him when he was only a first year, girls grew faint in his presence, and he considered 'looking sexy' as one of his hobbies. He possessed Kate's eyes though. They changed color daily.

Harry went into his closet to change, wishing he had Nick's long hair. He found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt fast enough and emerged from his closet to find Nick sprawled out on his bed again. "So what's this I hear about a freak out this morning?" Nick asked.

"What did you hear?" Harry retorted, plopping down in a near by chair.

Nick sat up, nodded a bit as he appeared to be thinking then said, "Everything. I get here and Gwen and Aiden bombard me, telling me something that sounded like a horror story then showed me that movie and told me of your freak out and lightning bolt shaped cut."

"Lightning bolt shaped cut?" Harry asked, remembering the white line just above his eye.

"Yeah, Aiden told me that after the movie, he turned around and saw you on the floor going through some fit. So he called your parents into the room and they moved your hands away from your face and you had a cut shaped like a lightning bolt on your forehead. Shortly after you woke up, it miraculously healed itself."

Harry rubbed the spot above his right eye. They were both quiet for a moment, neither of them sure of what to make of the whole ordeal. Finally, Nick changed the subject.

"So Aiden survived his first year as a Slytherin."

"Yeah, guess so," Harry answered, absentmindedly playing with a string from his T-shirt.

"Does he still have an attitude problem?"

"Aiden's had an attitude problem from the day he was born," Gwen announced, coming into the room and sitting next to Nick on the bed.

"And you've had a grandeur complex from the day you were born," Aiden shot back, also coming into the room and sitting on top of Harry's desk. "Mum kicked us out of the kitchen," he added as Harry was about to ask what was up with the intrusion upon his privacy. "So how's the forehead?" Aiden continued, looking interestedly at Harry.

Gwen also focused her attention on Harry, but Nick leaned back upon his elbows and focused more on running his fingers through Gwen's long hair.

"My forehead's fine," Harry answered. "It just has a white line where the cut was."

"Really?" Aiden and Gwen inquired at the same time, getting up from their respective spots and rushing over to Harry to prod his forehead with their index fingers.

"I've read something about this before," Nick stated casually from the bed. Aiden and Gwen stopped their prodding and Harry stopped trying to swat them away.

"Really?" Gwen asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Nick nodded. "I was in detention once and I was bored so I found this book. It was by this guy who claims that we can change the past. He said that every now and then, a witch or wizard who has a really, really shitty life can go back in time and possess their younger selves if they're powerful enough. The possession can only last a maximum of five minutes and in that time, they can force their younger selves to do something that may alter time. Usually they just warn other people of the future and tell them a way to change it, which is what you apparently did, Harry." Nick paused as the rest of them took this information in. "Anyway, I didn't get to finish the book. I'll look for it when we get back to Hogwarts so you can read it."

"Thanks, Nick," Harry said from his chair, feeling better about the whole situation.

"Did Mum or Dad say anything to you about it?" asked Aiden.

Harry shook his head. "They said they'll talk about it later tonight when Sirius and Remus are here."

"What are you supposed to do in the mean time?" Gwen asked.

"Smile like I mean it."

Later that night, after dinner, presents, and desert were finished, and after Remus' wife, Rose, took their young daughters up to Gwen's room to sleep, the adults assembled the teenagers into the living room. Harry sat between Aiden and Nick on the couch. Gwen sat on the other side of Nick while the adults got comfortable on the floor or in the near by armchairs. There was a big fuss over the adult seating arrangement and all four of the teenagers knew that they were prolonging the time before they'd have to talk about a time they'd rather forget.

"So," James said at last, looking at Harry brightly. "You found the movie. I don't know how you found the movie, because I'm quite certain that I threw it out ages ago. But you found it."

"I didn't," Harry stated dully from the couch. He jerked his head toward Aiden. "He found it. In the box with the other baby movies."

"Yes, well that still doesn't explain the fact that I threw it out," James mumbled. Lily hit his arm.

"Don't scare the kids. You know how your memory is, you probably forgot to throw it out."

"Probably," James slurred, his eyes unfocused.

"Anyway," started Remus, "you guys have probably figured out that what happened was a 17-year-old Harry from another life managed to possess his 1-year-old self in order to change the future. Good thing too, or else we wouldn't be here at the moment."

"You sounded so jaded," continued Sirius, being, well, serious, for once. "The dead look in your eyes and the edge in your voice," he shivered, "I never want you to become that, ever."

"I can't imagine that we'd be a picnic either," Remus mentioned. "He stated that I was a 'shell of a man' so I'm assuming that I never married or had children."

"Twelve years in Azkaban. I suppose I didn't..." Sirius' eyes flickered to Nick for a moment. "Never mind."

There was a profound silence for the longest time after Sirius' statement. Nick had become slightly pale and Gwen had laced her fingers along with his on his lap. Harry stared at their small embrace, wishing he had someone to hold. He'd hug Aiden, but he'd probably only get a punch in the face for that.

"Well after the initial shock wore off, we realized what was going on, of course," James continued. "Especially when you told us about Peter. It didn't take him long to tell us everything. Even Voldemort's whereabouts."

"So what happened to him?" Harry asked.

"Peter?" James inquired. "He's rotting away in Azkaban like he deserves."

"I meant V-Vo...oh piss it, He Who Must Not Be Named?" Harry clarified.

"When will you guys use his name?" Lily asked.

"Voldemort," James interrupted, "is immortal. Dumbledore has him locked up somewhere safe. No one other than Dumbledore knows where, though." Another silence fell upon them.

"So that's all you know? About the whole thing?" Harry asked at last. "Just that a different version of me possessed me when I was young to change his shitty life?"

"Language, Harry," Lily scolded.

"What did you want us to tell you? How exactly he managed to do it?" Remus asked.

"Anything would be nice," Harry stated glumly.

"Well we don't know how he did it, Harry, mate," Sirius replied. "One has to have significant power to do it. So he must have ranked up there with Voldemort and Dumbledore. And at seventeen too!"

"I knew you weren't applying yourself in school, Harry," Lily scolded once again from the floor.

"Lily!" James exclaimed.

Lily looked shocked with herself. "Sorry. Harry, sweetie, I'm sorry. It's just...mood swings I guess."

"Are you alright, Mum?" Gwen asked, concerned from the couch.

"I'm fine," Lily stated, trying to smile as she brushed locks of her red hair behind her ears. "I'm just going to check on Rose and the girls." She got up and weaved her way between the Marauders. The others sat in silence for the longest time.

**End Author's Note:** Sorry this took awhile. This chapter is a bit boring because it's just the 'this is what happened and this is their reactions to it' chapter. The rest of the story will be much, much better. I promise. Next chapter I think I'll bring in Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. How do you guys like Nick? Yes, there's something going on with him and Gwen, but they're not dating. They're only a month apart age wise (which makes him 15 and going into 5th year) so they grew up as close friends. James and Sirius always secretly hoped that they would one day fall in love and get married, Harry knows the two like each other (though neither has admitted it yet) but he's indifferent to it, and Aiden is too caught up in his own life to care.


	3. Come Around Again

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** First off: I got Rupert back, but stupid Best Buy didn't reinstall xp so I have nothing on him. I turn him on and all I get is 'Operating System Not Found'. Now, to the answering of questions and comments! First question...is Lily pregnant? -scowls- Yes...yes she is. I was hoping that I was sneaky and that I could totally surprise you guys with it but you've proven that you're the brightest crayons in the box. I debated for awhile to do something to throw you off like have Lily ask Gwen for a tampon or something, but now I just don't care because it's just a little thing anyway. Next, yes, I do name my computers. I didn't name my laptop after Rupert Grint though if that's what most of you are thinking. And my family computer is named Alex. My mom named him. If I were a boy, I'd be named Blake Alexander...just a lil tidbit you guys probably don't care to know. Thirdly, are you going to make it like 'The Ring'? No. That movie creeped me out.

**Disclaimer:** -yawns- One in the morning it too early to disclaim things. You guys know what I do and do not own.

Chapter Three:

_Come Around Again_

After sitting in the living room for an hour, Harry got up and went to bed. He expected to not be able to sleep, to lie awake and make himself sick with worry over what had happened that day. He did not expect falling asleep right off the bat, having an interesting dream, and waking up to an assortment of whispers.

"Where is it?"

"Right there, above his eye."

"I don't see anything."

"You have to squint. It's white."

Harry slowly opened his eyes to find Nick, Aiden, Gwen, and to his surprise, Ron hovering over his bed.

"Morning, Harry," Ron greeted happily. The other three, who were all still in pajamas, backed off and averted their eyes, embarrassed over being caught showing Harry off like a freak. "I haven't seen you all summer so I thought I'd come over for a visit."

"Oh," Harry stated. He doubted greatly that Ron had just decided to drop by out of the blue and wondered whether or not Ron knew about the day before.

"You were a bloody, freaky baby, Harry," Ron commented, answering Harry's musings.

"Was I now?" Harry asked, glaring at the other three. Nick and Aiden immediately pointed to Gwen who huffed out of the room.

"Yeah, but don't worry, Fred and George were kind of freaky as children themselves; granted they still are," Ron continued.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Did they get possessed by their messed up future selves of past lives?" The sentence sounded stupid even as Harry spoke it but he was in no mood to be coherent.

Ron thought for a moment. "No." Harry grumbled and got out of bed.

"Where is he?" filled the room a split second before Hermione barged into it, unannounced. Harry quickly found a near by pair of jeans and pulled them on. The situation was ten times more uncomfortable seeing as Hermione insisted upon staring intently at Harry's forehead while he was trying to get his right leg through. Hermione didn't seem to notice his predicament.

"I don't...wait, there it is," she said, prodding the white line above Harry's eye. "Harry, maybe you should go to Dumbledore about this?"

Ron snorted. "That's her answer to everything." He cleared his throat and impersonated Hermione in a high voice. "What? You skinned your knee? You should go straight to Dumbledore!"

Hermione glared at him. Ron merely rolled his eyes at Hermione's glare and plopped down in Harry's armchair. "What are you doing here, anyway, Hermione?" he asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Gwen told Ginny who told me," Hermione replied, once again inspecting the thin white scar on Harry's forehead. "Besides, Harry's my friend--sort of," she admitted, blushing slightly.

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry whispered. He nevertheless put some distance between himself and the bushy-haired girl. He was not used to people ogling at his forehead.

Ron chortled at the statement which caused Hermione to apparate with a discouraged, 'humph'.

"Women!" Aiden exclaimed, shaking his head and squeaking slightly. Nick ruffled Aiden's hair before he threw himself upon his stomach on Harry's bed.

"I always get such a good night's sleep when I'm over here," he stated, burying his face into Harry's pillow. "Eww, drool."

Harry gave Nick a cruel smirk as he found a shirt and slipped it over his messy mane. "It's probably because you sleep in my sister's bedroom when you're over here," he commented with a slight hint of malice. Ron's blue eyes widened.

"WHAT? They're fifteen, no way any decent parent would allow that!" he bellowed. He seemed slightly amused at the situation.

"We've never done anything!" Nick countered, sitting up. "Gwen is, just a friend. Honest."

The other three rolled their eyes which caused Nick to become uncomfortable. "So, did anyone have a good dream last night?" he asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

"I bet you did," Aiden jeered, looking like the Slytherin he was. "I bet you had a _very_ good dream, if you know what I mean!"

Ron and Harry guffawed but Nick scowled. "This from the boy who just got his first _very _good dream two months ago," he teased, which caused Aiden to pounce upon him with punches.

"I had a nice dream," Harry interjected. The two boys stopped their rough housing and looked at Harry. Ron seemed slightly bored.

"If it concerns you and the Quidditch Cup, then you told us that one before," he mumbled, scratching his stomach lazily.

"No, no Quidditch," Harry informed. "It was quite weird, actually. It was nothing but a pretty green flash of light."

"A green flash of light?" Aiden asked in a bored manner. "You're mental, Harry. That's not a good dream, that's a ruddy boring one."

Nick gasped. "He watched his language!"

"Just for you, Nicky-poo." And with that, the two younger teens started to play fight again. Ron yawned, excused himself and apparated back to the Burrow, and Harry sighed and left his room to go down to breakfast, wondering slightly why his forehead was itching.

The next week returned to a state of normalcy for Harry. He received both his driving and apparating licenses and spent his days driving with Nick and Aiden, and his nights pulling pranks, now that he was able to use his wand. Ron and Ginny joined the nightly excursions a few times, but Ginny soon grew tired of them and began spending time with Gwen.

Before Harry knew it, the time to shop for school supplies came and he found himself in the midst of Diagon Alley, surrounded by all of his schoolmates as they rushed to get everything on their lists. James and Sirius spent as much money on Zonko products for their boys as they did on school supplies. The family returned home that night, exhausted, and everyone went to bed early. Harry fell asleep feeling very pleased with the world and woke up early the next morning to a small pain on his forehead as if a mosquito had just bitten him there. He rubbed it half-heartedly as he remembered his dream. Falling back to sleep was easier said than done, so Harry got up, showered, dressed, and met Nick and Aiden on the steps as they headed to breakfast.

"I had an interesting dream last night," Harry commented as they entered the kitchen. He paused briefly so that Lily could give him a good morning kiss on the cheek and hand him a plate of eggs.

"Oh, let me guess," Nick jested, also receiving a good morning kiss with his eggs. "It was a blue light this time!"

Lily looked at the boys oddly before shrugging and going back to flip the pancakes. Aiden laughed as Harry sat down next to him at the table. "No," Harry replied, glaring at Nick. "This one is much different."

"Well, enlighten us," Nick urged.

"I'm five years old..."

"No you're not," Aiden stated.

"In the dream, dumbass," Harry clarified, smacking the back of Aiden's head.

"...oh."

"So, I'm five years old, and I'm a tiny, little thing. Much smaller than what I should have been. And, here's the big thing, I lived in a different house."

"I once had a dream that I lived on a pink cloud. I called it 'fluffy'," Nick shared.

"Hey, I'm sharing the dream here," Harry pointed out as Aiden laughed next to him. "So I live in this different house in...I think Surrey or some place like that. Anyway, I don't live with Mum and Dad, I live with an aunt and uncle and cousin. And my aunt and uncle were locking me in the cupboard under the stairs."

"Whoa, child abuse," Aiden commented through a mouthful of food.

"It's absolutely ludicrous," Harry continued. "Their names were," he paused and thought, "Vernon and Petunia or something equally stupid like that. But the thing is," he went on, waving his fork at Nick for emphasis, "that I don't have an Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia!"

There was a loud clamor behind them as Lily fainted. James immediately rushed in and revived her. Her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at her husband in confusion for a moment before mentioning something about 'bad eggs'. Harry, Aiden and Nick all pushed their eggs away from themselves.

The last few days of summer passed in the boring stillness that all summers end with. The only thing odd about these days from all the summer days before it, was that Harry began getting odd thoughts that focused on his dream. Thoughts about that house in Surrey and about the school he attended there. Thoughts about a large woman named Marge and a yippy little dog. Thoughts about an old neighbor and some cats. And finally, thoughts about waking up one morning to find his cousin dressed in a new school uniform and being threatened to be beaten by a stick if he didn't get the mail.

Harry kept these musings to himself, wondering where on Earth they were coming from. He grew more and more quiet as the days dragged on and went to bed at eight in the evening on the last day of summer vacation, much to the great surprise of everyone. He did not dream about the house in Surrey. Instead, he was eleven and at the Hogwarts Halloween feast with Ron when a man ran into the great hall. The man was blurry in the dream and the next thing that Harry knew, he and Ron were running down a corridor. For some reason, Hermione was in the bathroom with a giant troll who turned the wooden stalls to splinters in an attempt to kill the small girl. With a courage that neither boy knew he possessed, Ron and Harry hurled themselves at the troll and defeated it with the simple levitation spell and a wand up its nose.

Harry awoke the next morning to rain, Nick's snores in the next room, a splitting headache, and a great feeling of unease. Neither he, nor Ron had ever even seen a troll that wasn't in a book, much less fight one when they were eleven. These dreams were more than what they seemed and Harry wanted nothing more than to get to Hogwarts and find that book that Nick had been talking about.

**End Author's Note:** One in the morning, again. I swear, it's like my happy hour to write. Anywho, I sat down today and wrote out a bit of a guideline paper for this fic and I have it for the next two chapters, all the way up to X-mas break. I would write more tonight but my contacts are getting dry, my basement cold, and my brain delusional so I'm going to go to bed. Nite!

**Last One:** It's morning now...10 hours of sleep, baby! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I think it's really interesting and kind of funny. And just incase we have some people out there with ideas about what Nick and Gwen do at night, Nick sleeps on the floor in a sleeping bag...every night! And that's because Sirius has the guest room, he'd sleep with Aiden but Aiden would most likely kick him out of bed, and he and Harry are too big to be sharing a bed with one another. Oh...and about their relationship with Hermione...well...I wasn't going to change it at all...but since Voldemort is locked in a prison cell, he never fused himself to Quierrel's head, therefore the whole troll incident never happened. And JK even said that it was that troll incident that brought the trio together. So first year, Hermione was the odd girl out. Then I made it so that she became best friends with Ginny and a year later, Gwen. So she was around the boys a lot and over the years they have become friends but no where near the extent that they are in the book. And Ron and Hermione don't like each other in that way...yet.


	4. Look What You've Done

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note: **I should be writing a paper for my English 101 class. An analysis paper. But I can't settle on a topic and quite frankly I'd rather write this. I just posted the last chapter yesterday or something like that, so there aren't very many questions/comments that need to be commented on. I would like to say hi to my buddy, Sara (Hold-Yer-Hippogriffs). Also I'd like Straycat to know that her comment on me naming my computers didn't offend me and I'm sorry if I sounded like I was in my AN last chapter. Lots of people think my abnormal need to name things is odd.

**Disclaimer:** I don't like disclaimers because it's quite obvious that I'm not Jo Rowling.

Chapter Four

_Look What You've Done_

"We fought a what?"

"A troll!"

"We never fought a troll."

"Exactly my point, Ronald!"

The Hogwarts Express lurched suddenly as the brakes caused the train to slowly come to a stop outside of the Hogsmede train station. The five teenagers all paused as they waited for the train to stop completely before Harry continued:

"I'm remembering things that have never happened! What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," Nick mumbled, shrugging off his cloak which he had used as a blanket for most of the trip while he napped. Everyone looked at the Black boy curiously as he brushed his long bangs away from his eyes (which were a stormy gray that day) with his hand. "I think it's a bit obvious, guys," he elaborated when he noticed their questioning glares. "Harry here is remembering _his_ life. The green flash of light was...yeah. And so he got sent to live with an aunt and uncle until he was eleven when he of course went to Hogwarts. And as for the whole troll thing...well, I don't know how that happened, but it obviously did." Nick stood and grabbed his trunk as the others followed suit. "Listen, Harry," Nick continued as the five of them made their way down the train and out to the carriages, "this weekend, you and I will go to the library and start looking for that book. Until then, try not to worry about it too much. I'm sure that this is normal."

Harry followed Nick into one of the carriages and scooted over as Aiden followed and sat next to him. They were silent the whole way to Hogwarts. The Great Hall was bright and welcoming as they entered and sat down at Gryffindor table (with the exception of Aiden who went to sit with the Slytherins). As Head Girl, Hermione was scurrying about as she tried desperately to get everyone situated. Gwen sat next to Harry and gave him an Nick a friendly smile before turning back to Ginny to finish their conversation about a new band.

Soon after the food appeared, Harry began to feel a bit better. He was at Hogwarts now and under the watchful eye of the most powerful wizard alive. He would be fine. After eating until he could eat no more, Harry, Nick, and Ron made their way up to Gryffindor Tower and after giving the Fat Lady the password (pinfeathers) settled themselves into the squashy armchairs before the fire. Not long after, Gwen barged into the room.

"NICK!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the boys. Nick sat up urgently.

"What is it?" he asked, a worried expression upon his face.

"I just realized," Gwen continued, looking at him with wide eyes, "that we're going to be taking our O.W.L's this year and we haven't started studying yet!"

"I didn't start studying until a month before the O.W.L's," Harry commented. Gwen sent him an angry glare.

"Well doesn't that make you special!" she spat at Harry before turning her blue eyes back onto Nick. "Will you help me study? Please? Hermione gave me a study guide and I should really start on the Potions stuff tonight."

"Now?" Nick exclaimed as if studying on the first night back at school was a sin. He snatched the study guide from Gwen. "Fucking hell, we'll be up all night if we do all of this!"

"Please, Nick?"

"Woman, you're crazy," Ron announced as he got up from his chair and made his way to the boy's dormitories. Harry followed him as Gwen sent the two another angry glare.

"You two should be studying for your N.E.W.T's," she commented.

"We will," answered Harry as he and Ron began to climb the stairs.

"When?" she called after them.

"May," Ron and Harry both yelled back.

The other boys were asleep as Harry and Ron entered their dorm and began to change into their pajamas. After bidding each other a good night, they got into their respective beds and fell asleep quickly. Several hours later, Harry awoke with a sharp gasp as he sat straight up in bed and clutched his forehead. Blood seeped through his fingers once again as his mind tried to keep a firm grasp on his dream.

One of his teachers was in it. Quirrell. Only he was different. He wore a turban. He wore the turban because Voldemort had him possessed and was on the back of his head, as ridiculous as that sounded. They were in a room with fire and a mirror, and they fought over a stone. Ron and Hermione had helped him get to that room. They had played on a big chessboard, and Ron sacrificed himself and got thrown off of his horse, and rubble fell on him, knocked him out and gave him a cut just under his eye.

Harry bolted from his bed and threw the curtains around Ron's bed apart. Ron slept peacefully, his face perfectly fine. But then, a cut manifested itself just under his eye. It bled for a moment before healing over and becoming a thin, white scar.

Harry's breathing came in erratic, sharp breaths as he rushed to the mirror on the wall and gazed at the space just above his own eye. The cut had healed itself again but it was now tinged slightly pink. No longer able to sleep, Harry went to his trunk and retrieved his invisibility cloak. He threw it over himself and made his way down to the common room where he found Nick and Gwen just putting away their books. He walked past them, intent on not being distracted on his way to the library, so of course with his luck, Nick distracted him.

"Hey, Gwen, wait a second," Nick said, his voice a bit husky. Harry stopped in his tracks. He new that husky voice. He used that husky voice. It was the voice that boys unconsciously used when they wanted to...

Harry spun around and stared at his friend and sister on the couch. Gwen had made to move but was now looking at Nick curiously. Nick wasn't looking like himself. His immaculate, long hair was as messy as Harry's or Aiden's and he continually wrung his hands as if he were exceptionally nervous.

"Listen, Gwen, we've been good friends ever since we were born practically, so I don't know if I should be doing this but... I know that I've kind of been a playboy over the years with the ladies, but I've never really had a relationship before. Well, that's because the only one I've ever wanted to date...is you."

It took everything Harry had not to snort at the remark. Gwen, on the other hand, loved the flattery. She smiled widely and drew herself closer to Nick. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" she asked hopefully. Harry almost felt like he needed to throw up. This was his sister!

Nick blushed, which he almost never does, and nodded while biting his lower lip.

Gwen squealed with delight. "Of course I'll go out with you!" she exclaimed, rising from her seat on the couch and dancing around in circles while clapping her hands. Her obvious delight seemed to confuse Nick, but Harry knew exactly why she was happy and he wanted to punch her for it. "I have what every other girl in this school wants!" Gwen continued. Her statement made Nick furrow his brow in confusion. "I have the most handsome boy on my arm. Oh, Nick, you go great with every outfit. Granted I'll mostly be wearing my Hogwarts uniform, but still... Now I'm the sister of the resident sports star and the resident badass, AND, I'm the girlfriend of the resident heartthrob! The girls are going to be so jealous of me!" she gasped suddenly, bringing her hands to her mouth. "I should tell them. I should wake them up and tell them. Oh, Nick, you've made me so happy," she continued, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

Gwen grabbed her bag and bounded up the girl's dormitory stairs happily. Nick looked completely dumbfounded, but his confusion soon melted to anger as he grabbed his bag as well and marched up the boy's dormitory stairs irately. Harry thought about following him to comfort him and think of some good spells they could use to punish his stupid sister, but he had more pressing matters at the moment and he was sure that Nick could take care of himself. If the boy was smart, he'd dump his sister in the Great Hall at breakfast.

Harry went to the library and spent most of the night searching for the book, but when the first rays of light came and he still hadn't found anything useful, he gave up and went back to his dormitory to change into his school clothes. There was a big commotion in the Great Hall when he arrived. Numerous students seemed to be grouped around the Gryffindor table. Harry fought his way through but nearly fell over by the sight that greeted him when he finally made it to the table. Nick had taken the Gwen situation into his own hands; he shaved his head.

Harry smiled at his friend and nodded his head in a 'that's my boy' way. He knew that Nick would never take any of Gwen's shit. Harry wondered vaguely as he shoved eggs upon his plate, what his sister would do when she saw Nick. He was answered a few minutes later. Gwen pushed her way through the crowd and her mouth fell wide open when she saw her new boyfriend. Anger flashed behind her sky blue eyes for just a moment before she walked around the table and sat next to Nick.

She stared at him with wide, sad eyes. She knew why he had done it and she was sorry for what she had done to him. Slowly, she brought her hand up to his head and ran it over the place where his sought after hair once was. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' to him before facing forward and helping herself to some breakfast.

Harry never felt prouder of his sister. Under her conceited nature, she really did care for people, for Nick. She was going to stick by him, with or without hair. Harry sent Nick a huge smile and began to dig into his eggs, his dream from the night before forgotten momentarily.

The first two weeks of school passed without another nightmare, though the filling in memories continually surfaced during classes. By the middle of September, Harry felt as if he new everything about the first 12 years of his first life. One day, as Harry was walking back to Gryffindor Tower after classes, he was tackled around the stomach from behind and fell on the floor with his attacker landing next to him. The attacker's sky blue eyes flashed with glee.

"Aiden, what the hell...?"

"Harry, you won't believe it! You won't fucking believe it!" Aiden exclaimed, sitting up and smiling broadly.

"Believe what?" Harry asked, rubbing his side. There was a dramatic silence before Aiden shouted out:

"DRACO PICKED ME! FOR THE TEAM! HE FUCKING PICKED ME FOR HIS FUCKING QUIDDITCH TEAM!"

"He did not! HE FUCKING DID NOT! WAY TO GO, MAN, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" Harry exclaimed, using Aiden's trademark word in jest as he engulfed his brother in a hug. They were both in their school uniforms and it was definitely a sight to see a Slytherin hug a Gryffindor.

"I heard the F-word, which can only mean one thing," a male voice stated from above them. Harry and Aiden looked up to find Nick smirking down upon them. Even with his hair at a mere two millimeters long, Nick continued to possess a charm that no other boy could mimic.

Gwen had suffered through some ridicule over her new boyfriend shaving his head, but she went through it gracefully and did not retaliate. The teasing had stopped finally and Gwen remained at Nick's side; however, the relationship was not much more than what the friendship had been. Harry wondered what would happen to the couple. They had one of the strongest friendships that Harry had ever seen. Puberty had only intensified it to something more, and now they were taking the first few tentative steps into a more mature relationship. Or at least they were trying to.

Just as the whispers about Nick's hair had died down, new rumors spread that it was now soon to be their third week of dating and they had yet to kiss. Neither Harry or Aiden felt like it was their business to ask, but judging by the way Gwen had been presenting herself, the rumors had some truth in them. She kept mostly to herself and between classes, Harry saw that she now walked with her eyes on the floor in front of her as to ignore the smirks others sent her way. As much as Harry hated to see his sister in such a state, he thought that what she was going through could possibly mature her in a way, and he therefore did nothing to stop the whispers that filtered through the halls.

"I know I'm so incredibly handsome with my new haircut, but you two have got to stop staring at me! People might think I'm cheating on Gwen," Nick commented, forcing Harry from his musings.

Harry wanted to retort, but Aiden had jumped to his feet and started telling Nick about the good news before Harry had the chance. He smiled and excused himself while they raved. Content, Harry made his way back to Gryffindor Tower slowly, pausing at every notice board just out of boredom. He had stopped at one and was reading an interesting notice about a lost toad when he felt something on his back, just between his shoulder blades. Turning his head slightly, he found that Gwen had slumped over and rested her forehead on his back in an exhausted manner.

"Er..." Harry stammered.

"Harry, am I kissable?"

"AAAHHH! Where the hell did that come from and why the hell are you asking me because I don't know and I don't want to find out!" Harry exclaimed rather quickly, taking several steps away from her. She looked at him with sad eyes.

"I asked Aiden earlier but he just yelled out his favorite curse word and ran off to the dungeons," she explained.

"Well, why are you asking us? We're your brothers!" Harry retorted.

Gwen sniffled. "You two and Nick are the only three who haven't been making fun of me."

Harry sighed. "Gwen...before you started dating Nick, I heard other guys talk about you, and to them, you are very kissable." Harry shuttered involuntarily.

"Thanks for being repulsed."

"Gwyneth, you know you're beautiful. You have Mum's face, excluding her eyes. It's just I see you and I realize that you're what I would look like if my Y chromosome decided to grow an extra leg and that disturbs me. Don't worry, I'm sure Nick will get around to it. And if he doesn't you jut let me and Aiden know and we'll kick his ass for you."

Gwen smiled. "Thanks Harry!" she exclaimed, running up to him and hugging him.

"Oi, not in public," Harry scolded, but he smiled none-the-less.

Gwen ran off happily as Harry continued his slow trek back to the common room. He was very nearly there when he heard a disembodied voice.

"_Kill...let me riiip..."_

Harry spun around quickly, only to find an empty corridor. A pain seared through his scar as his breath quickened. After a moment, he heard footsteps and Ron rounded the corner. He stopped and gazed at Harry awkwardly for a moment before looking behind himself to try to figure out what Harry was staring at. Harry's eyes then flickered to Ron's face, just under his eye where the cut had manifested itself weeks ago. There was no sign of a scar and Harry was beginning to think that he was going mad.

"What?" Ron asked finally.

"Nothing," Harry replied, covering his eyes with his hands as weird thoughts drifted through his head. A flash of a young Hermione, her face frozen in a scream as she laid on a bed in the hospital wing appeared. "Is Hermione, ok?" Harry asked out of nowhere.

"No, she's bloody mad if you ask me. She's been chasing me all day, rambling on about N.E.W.T.s and studying!"

Ron continued on but his voice became blocked out as another flashback fought to the front of Harry's brain. He and Ron were about twelve, Aiden's age, and for some reason they had to going deep into the Forbidden Forrest to talk to a giant spider.

"Nothing could make Ron do that," Harry whispered to himself as the memory faded. He gazed back up the corridor and was surprised to see that Hermione had joined Ron. She was lecturing him about studying and he seemed bored. A lock of Hermione's hair fell into her face in her exasperation and Ron casually brushed it behind her ear. "Never mind, one thing can make him do that," Harry whispered once again to himself.

"Did you say something, Harry?" Ron asked, turning toward him.

Harry jumped suddenly. "Er...no, I just realized that I have some homework that I need to do, that's all."

Hermione slapped Ron's arm. "At least somebody is taking their studies seriously!" she scolded. Harry turned his back on his feuding friends and marched rather quickly back to the common room.

After the next couple of weeks, Harry grew quite used to the memories and the pain in his scar which hadn't bled since the nightmare with Quirrell but had some how become more prominent on his forehead. Hermione mentioned the other day that she can kind of see it across the dinner table if she squints.

On the night of October 5th, Harry and Gwen led Aiden into the Gryffindor common room where they had thrown him a party for his 13th birthday. This was against the rules of course but who was going to tell the Potter children off? The party raged well into the night until Harry finally decided to walk Aiden back to the dungeons. They were in such good spirits that they didn't even bother with the invisibility cloak and instead, wandered the halls for all to see. Though no one did.

They were almost to the dungeons when Harry pulled out a badly wrapped package from his robes and handed it to Aiden.

"What's this?" Aiden asked sleepily, taking the package.

"You're birthday present from me, moron!" Harry scolded playfully.

Aiden smiled and ripped the paper to reveal scarlet and gold Quidditch robes with the Potter name on the back. Harry took out his wand and muttered a spell that instantly turned the robes green and silver.

"They were my old robes when I was thirteen," Harry explained.

Aiden was running a hand along the silver lettering. "And you want a Slytherin to wear them now?" he asked.

"No, I want my brother to wear them," Harry corrected, ruffling Aiden's hair.

Aiden smiled. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Harry. The worst part about becoming a Slytherin was worrying that I had disappointed you."

"You didn't disappoint me. You made me proud."

Aiden looked at him quizzically. Harry heaved a huge sigh.

"In both of my lives, the Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin."

Aiden gasped.

"Gwen too. She cried on my shoulder for a week when she was a 1st year because she thought that she was evil."

"But...you two were put into Gryffindor!" Aiden remarked, confused.

"Because we yelled at the Sorting Hat to put us somewhere other than Slytherin."

There was a moment of silence and then:

"I didn't know we can talk back to it!" Harry laughed as Aiden ranted. Finally Aiden stopped and smiled. "It's just as well. Slytherin isn't that bad."

"Nah," Harry agreed. "Except at Quidditch."

Aiden smirked and gave Harry a rude hand gesture before heading back down into the dungeons. Harry quickly walked back to the common room and was surprised to see Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Nick and Gwen situated around the fire. They were all covered with blankets and were asleep. Shrugging, Harry sprawled out on the couch and covered up with a nearby blanket, falling fast asleep.

**End Author's Note: **Is it just me or was that a very long chapter? Maybe it just seemed long because a lot of stuff happened in it and to be quite honest, I was going to have more happen. Unfortunately, it's 1 in the morning again. I have a weekend full of work and homework, I'm exhausted and I still need to shower.


	5. Falling Away With You

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note: **Guess what! Rupert's back and ALL BETTER! -schnuggles Rupert- Anywho, onto the comments! Let's see -waves to Straycat- yes, Ron/Herm and Nick/Gwen are cute, aren't they? Alligator355 mentioned that chapter 4 was really good and that fast updates mean reviewers won't kill me. I can't remember when I updated chapter 4 which isn't a good sign so I'll bring my baseball bat to bed tonight just incase my reviewers are getting annoyed. Thank you, bri, I love long chapters too! -waves to Sara- "I didn't know we can talk back to it" was my favorite line too! -waves to Christina- Will Harry and Ginny get together? I'm afraid you'll just have to keep reading. Same goes to SailorBaby16 who asks why he's having all these memories; that will be explained within the next couple of chapters (seeing as this isn't going to be a terribly long story). XPussyWillowKittenx congratulates me on making the F-word funny; and thank you, I did have a nice sleep. I apologize to phoebe666 and k who wanted me to update soon. -waves to Kari and eats the cheese she bribed me with- You're musings are very accurate, actually. Rubber-Ducky-Lauren points out a grammatical error that I had, and I apologize for never proofreading my stuff before I update. I often find mistakes in my work after I post and I cringe at them, but I'm far too lazy to actually change them. And as for the age thing, I've always thought of it as, you have to be a certain age on Sept. 1 to be in that year. Therefore you'd have to be 11 on Sept 1 to go into 1st year, 12 on Sept 1 to go into 2nd year , ect...then I believe that sometime throughout that year, you have your birthday. Aiden was 12 on Sept 1 when he went into 2nd year...he just has an early b-day. Jeanne asks if Harry will be powerful in this story and that's actually really hard to answer...sorry...you'll find out soon. Maxennce mentioned the whole parseltongue thing. No one has Riddle's diary and the Baslisk is sitting in the chamber, not hurting anyone. Harry was literally hearing things.

**Disclaimer:** The usual disclaimer still applies. Also, I started this chapter on the family computer, Alex, and just converted it to Rupert. When I was writing it on Alex, I had a spurt of boldness and decided to take advantage of the R rating. I don't think that it's anything that will offend anyone greatly but I'm just warning you all before hand.

Chapter Five

_Falling Away with You_

"Ginny!"

Harry awoke with a jerk as sweat leaked out of every pore on his body. Blood from his forehead seeped down into the loose collar of his Hogwarts uniform; his vision blurred with tears. "Fuck," he whispered, frantically wiping away the blood on his face with his sleeve. It was still dark out and he was in his own bed, but his bed curtains were only partially closed. One shoe was missing, while the other shoe was still on, though untied. His school robes and sweater were absent and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned with his tie tied around his waist for some strange reason. Harry stared at his odd choice of clothing as flashes from earlier that night surfaced in his murky brain.

It was Halloween and he, Nick, and Ron had been aimlessly wandering the halls while eating an eclectic assortment of sweets they had nicked from the Great Hall. For some reason, they came to an abandoned part of the school. Harry shivered when they entered.

"What?" Ron asked.

"We were here before," Harry answered, looking around the dark and dusty room.

"No we weren't," Nick retorted through a mouthful of cupcake.

"You weren't," Harry continued as he stopped on a trap door in the floor, "but Ron and I were. In my first life. Hermione and Neville too. Only there was a three-headed dog named Fluffy in this room when we came."

"It does kind of smell like wet dog," Ron commented. The three boys began to laugh, but their glee was silenced when they heard voices.

"I'm telling you, guys, no one comes here; we'll be perfectly fine." The door opened to reveal Aiden and two of his friends, a Slytherin and another Gryffindor. The three young boys stood frozen in their tracks when they saw Aiden's older brother and his friends. They quickly hid the large bottles that they were carrying behind their backs.

"Oi, what's behind your backs?" Ron inquired as he and Harry strode forward.

"Nothing," Aiden squeaked back. His voice had finally broken in mid-September; therefore Harry knew that his brother was scared because Aiden only squeaked in fear. Harry quickly took the bottle from behind Aiden's back and brought it up to his face to read. Firewhiskey. Each boy had several bottles of it.

"What are you trying to do? Commit suicide?" Nick asked, joining them. Aiden was looking at his feet. Harry sighed.

"Well, you know I'm going to have to do the big brother thing about this?" he asked Aiden, who nodded. "I'm going to have to help you guys drink this so you don't over do it! Come on then, Ron, Nick, help me out." And that was how they had all gotten drunk

Harry didn't remember much after that, but the dream that had caused his head to split in two was beginning to become clear. It was a long dream, consisting of all the main points of his second year. Harry shivered. It was a bad year. There was still a few hours before breakfast, yet Harry could not fall back to sleep. Grabbing a non-bloody set of clothes, he made his way out of the dormitory, intent on taking a long bath in the Prefect's bathroom, even though he wasn't a prefect.

The sun was just beginning to rise when Harry came to his destination. It tinged the sky light shades of pink and orange, and Harry was glad that the windows in this bathroom faced East. The great view could help him contemplate his dream.

"Damn," Harry muttered under his breath upon being greeted with steam and bubbles in the bathroom. The one flaw of the Prefect bathroom was that it was open to all at anytime. No locks, no privacy, just a password that everyone fifth year and up knew, and just a big enough bath to pretend that there wasn't another guy in there with you.

Harry grumpily picked a spot that appeared empty and threw his clean clothes next to the pile of towels. He took off his one shoe, while wondering vaguely where the other one was. The socks and tie were next, then Harry finished unbuttoning his shirt and quickly threw it in the laundry shoot before who ever else was in there noticed him and inquired about the blood. He had just begun unfastening his belt when he heard singing. His blood ran cold when he realized that the voice belonged to a girl. Had he walked into the girl's prefect bathroom? But he had known the password!

Harry squinted his eyes as he peered through the vast air of bubbles, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was singing; however, the steam from the bath was too great. Taking a deep breath, Harry began to cautiously walk closer to the other end of the bath, careful not to make too much noise. The singing grew louder as he grew closer and Harry's heart both leaped and sunk when the mystery woman came into view. It was Ginny, her long red locks were pulled to the top of her head in a messy bun as she happily sung and washed herself. Her back was to Harry, which he was semi-grateful for. It meant that she didn't see him, but it also meant that he couldn't see her; the bath water only went up to her waist. Harry chided himself for thinking such thoughts, but even so, his curiosity drew him closer.

He had only gone a few steps when he slipped on an abandoned bar of soap and belly flopped into the bath with an un-charismatic scream and a huge splash. 'Smooth, Potter,' Harry thought to himself as he clutched his stomach under the water. 'Real smooth.'

Bracing himself for all hell to break loose, he surfaced and wiped the soap from his face. "Good morning, Ginny. You're up bright and early!" Harry kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds to give Ginny time to hide herself under the water and bubbles. He opened his eyes to find that she was a mere two feet away from him and that she had squatted down enough for modesty's sake, but still left little to Harry's over active imagination.

"Morning, Harry!" Ginny greeted brightly before her face clouded over. "You're not going to tell my brother that I was in the boy's bathroom, are you?"

Harry sighed with relief. "Oh good, I'm not the one who walked into the wrong bathroom. I was beginning to think that I really am going mad."

Ginny laughed which sent a chill up Harry's spine. Finding the need for distraction, Harry continued talking. "So what exactly are you doing in the boy's bathroom?" he asked.

"Me and the girls were playing truth or dare last night and they dared me to take a bath in here," Ginny explained. "I figured that no one would come this early in the morning and I wasn't about to chicken out of it. Hermione had told me at the beginning of the year that she and Draco decided to have the prefect bathrooms have the same password because it would be the last thing people think of when trying to break into one."

Harry nodded. He was amazed at how calm Ginny was in this soapy situation. Needing to distract himself some more, he grabbed a handful of soap from the surface of the water, plopped it onto his scalp and began massaging it in vigorously.

"Hey, slow down," Ginny cautioned, coming closer. "Wash your hair like that and you'll be balder than my dad by the time you're twenty!" She raised her hands and ran them through Harry's messy mane, gently messaging the suds into his scalp.

Harry dropped his arms awkwardly to his sides as he stared into Ginny's warm eyes. She smiled at him and rinsed the suds from his hair. Her fingers then lowered themselves to Harry's forehead and gently pressed against his scar. Harry winced when the pressure from her fingers exerted a small amount of pain. Ginny knitted her brow.

"Did you have another dream?" she asked, softly.

Harry nodded. "It was about my second year. You were in it," he whispered.

Ginny smiled devilishly. "Was I now?" she asked, running her fingers through Harry's hair again. "And?" she inquired, getting dangerously close to Harry.

"Voldemort tried to hurt you," Harry whispered again, bringing a hand to caress Ginny's cheek. They both shuddered at the name. It was the first time Harry had used it and it was foreign on his tongue.

Ginny lowered her hands, and rested them lightly upon Harry's chest. Her eyes showed a hint of fear at the fact that Voldemort had tried to hurt her. Slowly, Harry brought his hands to her waist, careful not to put them anywhere inappropriate and to not draw her any closer to himself. Finally, Ginny looked him in the eye, bravely.

"Did he hurt me?" she whispered.

"No," Harry replied softly. "I saved you."

Ginny smiled. "My hero." Without warning, she closed the gap between them, brought her hands to cup Harry's face, and inclined her own face closer to his. Her brown eyes shown at him brightly and she smiled mischievously, laughing slightly at Harry's reaction to her body against his.

His hands now grasped water where her waist had been and his emerald eyes nearly popped from their sockets. For a moment, Harry's brain flashed over to where he had discarded his wand as a certain spell his father had taught him played upon his lips. The moment passed quickly, however, and Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny, holding her close to him as he returned her mischievous smile.

He lowered his head so that their forehead rested against each other. His lips brushed hers almost by accident before he drew back very slightly. Harry had kissed girls before, obviously, seeing as he awoke every other day during the summer with some random friend of Gwen glued to his lips. But this kiss was different. Ginny was different. Focusing on the kiss was proving to be difficult, however, since the majority of his consciousness dwelt on Ginny's bare chest against his.

Taking the endeavor into her own hands, Ginny playfully tried to place an innocent peck upon Harry's lips, but Harry was too fast and pulled back just in time. Ginny opened her eyes and smiled at him. She removed her hands from where they were setting on Harry's shoulders and undid the clasp in her hair so that her long locks fell around her shoulders, the ends, floating lazily upon the water's surface. Throwing the clasp to the side of the bath, Ginny laced her arms around Harry's neck and pushed herself even closer against him.

Harry threw all inhibition into the wind and kissed her hungrily. It was like he needed oxygen and she was his only source. Ginny, who had been initiating the flirting from the beginning, sighed and relaxed, melting into Harry's arms as he became the forward one.

_'Why hadn't I done this sooner?'_ Harry thought to himself as Ginny slid her fingers through his hair. He felt shocks run down his spine with every kiss and even his scar was tingling. The tingling soon manifested into searing pain. Harry's eyes shot open with shock as Ginny continued to kiss him fervently. One moment he saw Ginny and the prefect's bathroom and the next he saw a run down cabin with two teenagers in it, a boy and a girl. The boy was obviously him, or at least his other self from his first life.

He looked to be around the age of sixteen which confused Harry greatly seeing as he had just ended the second year memories earlier that morning. He was much skinnier than what Harry had been at sixteen and slightly dirty, as if he hadn't seen his home or Hogwarts in days.

The girl was Ginny. Though Harry couldn't remember exactly how Ginny looked at fifteen, this Ginny did appear to be a bit on the skinny side and was just as dirty as Harry. Rain pounded on the windows of the cabin and the two teens sat in the middle of it, obviously pissed off with the state of the world. Finally, one of them spoke.

"Ginny, when Ron and Hermione get here, I want you three to go back to the school. I'm going on alone."

"I'm not leaving you, Harry," Ginny snapped back.

"Ginny, don't argue with me on this! You are going back to Hogwarts where it's safe!" Harry yelled furiously.

Ginny glared at him. "Why won't you let me stay with you?!?" she yelled, getting on her knees and coming within an inch of Harry's face.

"BECAUSE EVERYONE I LOVE DIES!"

Thunder clapped as both teens calmed their shouting. Harry was panting as a blush crept up his neck, and Ginny merely stared at him, awestruck. "You love me?" Ginny whispered. He didn't bother to deny it. The scene faded out as the two teens leaned in to share their first, tender kiss.

Back in the bathroom, Harry forcefully broke away from Ginny, who had continued to kiss him throughout his brief flashback. Panting heavily, Harry met Ginny's confused eyes and gasped when he saw some blood smeared upon her forehead. Bringing a hand to his own, Harry realized that he was bleeding again.

"Wha?" Ginny half whispered, staring at Harry's bloodied face.

"We," Harry was still panting and found it difficult to spit out what he was trying to say. "We were in love!"

Ginny blinked in confusion. "Love?" she asked, the word as strange on her tongue as 'Voldemort' had been on Harry's. "How old were we?"

"Younger than what we are now," Harry stated, washing the blood from his face.

"Twelve?" Ginny exploded, shocked that she and Harry professed love at such a young age.

"What? No, we were fifteen and sixteen!"

"Oh, but I thought you just dreamt about your second year last night?"

"I did! Now they're all coming out of sequence!"

The two were silent for awhile before Ginny came closer and placed a hand on Harry's cheek. "I think you should go to Dumbledore," she whispered.

Harry lowered his eyes from her serious stare and nodded ruefully. Ginny kissed him briefly before making her way over to her things at the side of the bath. Feeling slightly encouraged by Ginny's kiss, Harry returned to his own things. He got out of the bath, took off his soaking wet pants, and quickly dried himself and dressed. He was just tying his tie when Ginny came over to him, fully clothed. "I'll walk you to his office," she stated softly. Harry could only nod. The two left the bathroom and walked the halls quietly. The school was just waking up so the halls were empty, excluding Peeves who was rattling a suit of armor suspiciously.

They finally came to the stone gargoyles that guarded Dumbledore's office when Harry stopped. He knew that the password was always a candy, but he didn't know what the current one was.

"Skittles," Ginny mumbled dully. Harry glanced at her. "I got caught sending Fred and George a toilet seat the other day and got sent to Dumbledore," Ginny replied, blushing slightly.

Harry smiled and waved goodbye before ascending the stairs to Dumbledore's office. On a whim, he entered without knocking. In his first life, he never needed to.

"Why don't you get a move on, Fawks? You've been looking like rubbish for days and I simply won't have all this molting...Harry? What is it?"

Harry paused on the doorstep as random memories from his first life flooded his brain, all of them concerning the office of which he was entering. He closed his eyes momentarily to allow the vertigo and memories to pass before entering the office and sitting down in a chair across from the desk. He took a deep breath and told his headmaster everything, from the movie to his latest memory. Dumbledore listened silently as the sun rose higher in the sky and filled the room with it's golden rays.

What must have been an hour later, Harry stopped. The two were silent for a long time. Dumbledore stared at Harry over his folded fingers and Harry lazily stared at the many portraits on the wall. Finally, Dumbledore spoke.

"And Mr. Black claims to have read a book about this ordeal?" he asked. Harry nodded. "Very well then." Dumbledore waved his wand and a blank piece of parchment flew over to him from its resting place on a table. "Nicholas Sirius James Black's schedule, please," Dumbledore asked.

_'Which house?'_ appeared on the parchment.

Dumbledore looked taken aback and flustered his beard impatiently. "Don't tell me there's two of them? How common is the name Nicholas Sirius James Black?"

_'There is one in Slytherin and one in Gryffindor. Both are fifth years.'_

"The Gryffindor one," Dumbledore clarified and Nick's schedule appeared on the parchment. Dumbledore scanned it for a minute before muttering 'Transfiguration' under his break and heading to the fireplace to stick his head in and call upon Nick. He was back in his chair, gazing at Harry kindly a moment later.

"I trashed this office when I was fifteen," Harry announced. "I don't know why though. Only my first thirteen years are clear at the moment."

Several minutes later, Nick barged into the room in a hurry. "I didn't turn Malfoy's hair blue," he stated, looking a bit guilty.

Dumbledore gazed at him. "Of course you didn't."

"I only did it because he was teasing, Aiden," Nick stupidly continued, not hearing Dumbledore.

"Of course you did, but you're not here to be punished, Nick."

Nick stared at Dumbledore, confused. It was as if he never got summoned to this office without having done something wrong.

"Stupid boy," rang out from behind Dumbledore's chair. Nick glared at a portrait of an old headmaster despondently.

"Love you too, Phineas," Nick mumbled, coming down and sitting next to Harry. "Did you turn someone's hair a different color too?" Nick asked Harry.

"For the last time, Mr. Black, neither of you are in trouble!" Dumbledore exclaimed. Nick slouched down in his chair.

"Then what am I doing here?" Nick asked. "I had some very important transfiguring to do which involved a Slytherin and a cockroach."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow but didn't scold. "Nick, Mr. Potter here claims that you have read a book concerning his...er...recent developments."

Nick cast Harry an inquisitive look. "I read the first chapter of that book. I told Harry everything I can remember from it."

"I need you to go to the library and find the book back. I'm sure that it is exactly where you left it," Dumbledore explained. Both boys looked confused, which caused Dumbledore to elaborate. "The movie of the possessed Harry was found by Aiden, correct?"

Harry nodded.

"No one else in your family has ever seen the movie in that box before Aiden found it?"

Harry nodded again.

"Then, if I am right, you have helpers in your path to the truth."

"Oh dear, he's getting all mystical and deep," Nick mentioned. Dumbledore glared at him before continuing.

"Everyone you know in this life has lived at some point in time during your first, except..."

"Me, Gwen, and Aiden," Nick replied bitterly, obviously not liking where the conversation was heading. Dumbledore held up a finger.

"You, Gwen, Aiden and Remus Lupin's two daughters, Astrid and Nox."

"I still think they were trying to put out their wands when they named that girl," Nick commented.

Harry smiled. "It means 'Goddess of the Night'," he explained.

"It means we can't say her name while we're using lumos, that's what it means."

"We're getting off of the subject here," Dumbledore interrupted. The two boys silenced themselves. "Now," Dumbledore continued. "If I'm not mistaken, only you five can help Harry follow the plan that time has for him. I'm not sure if each of you will play a part, but I know that only Aiden could have found the movie and only Nick can find this book. So, Nick, I want you to go to the place you were serving your detention at, and get the book back. It will be right where you left it."

Nick looked skeptical but did as he was told anyway. The portrait behind the desk began to talk again. "So you're saying that we are in a second life at the moment?" Phineas asked.

"I believe so," Dumbledore replied.

"So my great-great-great grandson shouldn't..."

"No, he shouldn't exist."

"And soon he will...when time has been restored, he will...?"

Dumbledore nodded.

Phineas looked scared. "But, he's the last of my family! The Black name rests solely upon his shoulders!"

"There's apparently another Black in this school, Phineas."

"That family moved here from America two decades ago and have no relation to us!" Phineas threw his arms up in exasperation. "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black ends when my half wit of a great-great grandson gets himself killed sometime in this boy's fifth year!"

Dumbledore smirked. "You think that, Phineas, but I know something about our dear Sirius that even he doesn't know." Both Harry (who had been silent throughout the whole conversation) and Phineas looked shocked at what Dumbledore was implying.

"Here it is," Nick stated, coming back into the office, brandishing a book that he plopped into Harry's lap. Nick sat in the other chair, ran a hand through his hair (which was now a fairly normal length for a boy) and glanced from Harry to Phineas who were both looking at him oddly. "Yes, it's lovely isn't it?" Nick asked, running his hand through his hair yet again.

Harry pried his eyes away from Nick and looked down at the book in his lap. Double Lives, was the title. On the cover was pictures a different witches and wizards. Something perked Harry's interest and he examined the cover more closely. Half way hidden by a rather pompous wizard was a skinny, teenaged boy with rather messy hair.

Harry immediate jumped to his feet, mentioned a Potions test he was missing, and ran off toward Gryffindor Tower. When he reached his room, he locked the book in his trunk, grabbed his school bag and spent most of his day in a depressed stupor, which was how he spent most of November. The first week of December, Hermione and Ron forced him to go on the Hogsmede trip.

Harry obliged and had a nice time stocking up on pranking supplies, school supplies, and candy. Ron and Hermione seemed to be keeping each other warm and it wasn't long before Ginny found the trio and interlaced her fingers with Harry's. The four of them then decided to head up to the Shrieking Shack to escape the crowd and dive into their candy.

Harry was feeling happier then he had in a month. Or at least he was until Ron decided to sit down on the old bed. Suddenly an image of a scared and battered, 13-year-old Ron flashed into Harry mind before he passed out and images of dogs, wolves, and rats danced in his head.

What seemed like ages later, he awoke. Blood ran down his face, naturally, but this time something was different.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all hovered above them, but they looked odd to Harry.

"Why?" Harry spat out in a hoarse voice.

"Why, what, Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"Why are you all blurry?"

**End Author's Note:** Muhahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another terribly long chapter! Okay, first, HARRY AND GINNY DID NOT HAVE SEX FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH DIRTY MINDS! They probably would have if Harry hadn't gotten a flashback, but he had his pants on, buttoned, and zipped the whole time! Next, I know that Skittles is a Muggle candy, but it's one that I'm particularly fond of, and I'd assume Dumbledore would be too, if he knew of them. I thought the whole Phineas/Dumbledore talk about the future of the Black family was pretty easy to understand, but I'm the one writing the story so I hope I understand it. As for Remus' daughters...I wasn't going to have them be a big part of the story. I just gave him a wife and daughters because I wanted him to be happy. But now I just might have them reappear in the story. As for their names. I originally looked for names that dealt with the moon, and actually found one that meant 'full moon' but then I realized that the full moon is Moony's biggest fear, and who would name their daughter after what they're most afraid of? So I picked Astrid which means strength because she gives him the strength to go on with his monthly ordeal. Then I had a really hard time naming the other one. I searched for 'night' as a meaning and got Nox back. I was utterly amused by it since it is a spell, but generally dismissed it, because it is a spell. But the name just stuck with me. It was unusual. Dealt with the night. And just has this kickass sound to it. So Astrid, who's ten, and Nox, who's eight. They're both blondes with blue eyes and pail skin. So that's it. Next chapter is the Christmas Chapter .


	6. Carol of the Bells

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** My tummy hurts and my sleeping schedule is whack. I shouldn't be writing at the moment, I should study for my exams…even thought it's 12:30 in the morning. -shrugs and moves onto the comments- I loved your nice, long review (and e-mail) Sara! Yes, torifire126, he never opened the book. We all know how Harry is…it's the same thing he did with that mirror that Sirius gave him in OotP -sniffles-. Glad you like the Nox name, Straycat! -waves to Christina- You'll see what happens between Nick and Gwen in this chapter, and I put the other Nick in there for comic relief. He plays no part in this story. And lastly, yes, the chapter title did come from Muse's album. They're bloody brilliant. If you guys notice, I have been using song titles for all these chapter titles. I own none of the songs.

**Disclaimer:** -holds up sign that states I don't own them-

Chapter Six

_Carol of the Bells_

Harry stared blankly at the brick wall as smoke from the train billowed around him and questions ran through his frazzled mind as he gripped his trunk tighter. What would they think when they saw him? How much had he changed since the last time he was in this station? Where the hell was his brother?

"Sorry, Harry," Aiden apologized, dragging his trunk behind himself as he joined the eldest Potter child at the barrier. "There was this girl who needed help with her trunk…"

Harry smirked at his brother and thumped him on his back. "My brother, the stud," he commented, smiling. Aiden blushed and mumbled his favorite word. "Well," Harry stated, waving a hand to the wall, "after you! Gwen and Nick already went through." Aiden smiled and broke through the barrier at a run. Harry sighed and slowly followed, glumly dragging his trunk behind himself.

There was complete pandemonium on the other side. James and Sirius were there to pick them up, and they were already performing some odd welcoming dance with the other three that consisted of excited shouts and lots of hugging. Harry did not join in. Instead, he stood off to the side and waited for the two older men to notice him. After several minutes of gushing over Aiden's voice and Nick and Gwen's hand holding, the two Marauders turned toward Harry. Their smiling faces contorted to confusion as they gazed at the eldest of their protégés.

"Whoa, now the resemblance is uncanny!" Sirius exclaimed.

James stood in front of Harry and reached out a hand to his son. "When did you get these?" he asked, jingling the glasses that Harry was currently wearing.

"A few weeks ago," Harry stated as casually as he could.

James stared at him for a few more moments before shaking his head and mumbling something that sounded much like, 'It starts'.

"What starts?" Harry asked, his stomach jumping to his throat. Did his father know more about time travel and alternate realities then what he let on?

James smiled and brought Aiden in a headlock as he addressed Harry. "Poor eyesight is hereditary, isn't it?" James asked, playfully ruffling Aiden's hair. "We had hoped you three would escape it, and you did give my DNA a run for its money, but apparently my genes are just so incredibly powerful…" James trailed off, releasing Aiden and looking rather smug. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get your excellent genes into the vehicle. Lily promised cookies if we brought the kids home as soon as possible," Sirius stated, throwing an arm around Nick and leading the way out of the station. Harry sighed with relief as he followed his family. He had been so worried what his father would think of the glasses that he actually had trouble falling asleep at night.

_'That's not the only reason why you don't sleep at night,' _a voice in his head told him as he helped James and Sirius load everyone's trunk into the boot of the car. Harry told his mind to shut up as he joined his siblings, who were currently fighting over the seating arrangement.

"I don't want to sit in the middle," Gwen whined.

"Well, I'm not sitting in the middle!"

"Aiden, sit in the middle, you're the smallest."

"I'm not sitting between the two damn cuddle duds!"

All of the fighting was giving Harry, who was getting too old to fight over where to sit in a car, a headache. "Dad, I'm really tired of all the bickering; could I just Apparate home?"

"I want to Apparate home too!"  
"Aiden, you're not old enough. Go ahead, Harry. Tell, your mother that we'll be home as soon as I can actually get the kids in the car," James replied as he tried to forcefully push Aiden into the backseat. Aiden, however, had his hands clamped firmly to the hood of the car and would not get in.

"You're such an excellent father, James," Sirius complemented from the front seat.

"I don't see you helping," James retaliated.

Harry merely rolled his eyes, said a brief, 'See you later,' and Apparated into his bedroom. Sighing with relief at finally being home, Harry kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his coat before making his way down to the kitchen for a soda.

"Harry, sweetie, I didn't hear you come in!" Lily exclaimed upon Harry's entrance into the kitchen.

"I Apparated," Harry explained as he pulled out a Pepsi and turned to face his mother. Lily gave a slight gasp and brought her hands to her mouth when Harry turned around.

"You've got glasses," she exclaimed in an excited whisper.

Harry blushed and pushed his glasses up his nose in an embarrassed fashion. "I should have gotten contacts," he mumbled. Lily gasped again.

"But you look so handsome with your glasses! So dignified!" Lily crossed the kitchen in two strides and engulfed Harry in a warm hug. Harry was startled for a moment but soon fell into the hug, breathing in his mother's scent as he hugged her back. His brow soon furrowed as he noticed that there was something different in the air, as if his mother possessed an unnatural amount of static electricity. Harry pulled back and ran his eyes up and down his mother frame, trying to decipher what was different. Lily appeared confused at Harry's action at first, but then realization dawned upon her and she stood straighter so that her sweater clung a bit tighter across her stomach, and then Harry saw it. Lily's stomach was protruding out slightly more than what it should have been.

Harry's eyes jolted to Lily's in an instant, asking her a question he already knew the answer to. Lily's eyes shown brightly with happiness as she took a hold of Harry's hand and brought it to her stomach, resting her own hands over his. Harry stared at their hands, his eyes filled with shock and his mouth agape. He was in such a state of surprise that he did not even notice when the rest of the family arrived home moments later, even though Aiden announced his entrance into the kitchen by yelling about having to sit in the middle.

The younger teen paused when he saw his mother and brother, and he stared at them in a confused silence for a moment as Nick and Gwen entered the kitchen.

"Harry, why is your hand on Mum's stomach?" Aiden asked, giving the pair an odd look.

Gwen's eyes immediately pried themselves off of Nick and shot to Harry and Lily as a huge smile slowly spread across her face. "Mum?" she asked hopefully, taking a step closer.

Lily turned to her daughter with bright eyes and nodded, her hands still covering Harry's on her stomach. Gwen erupted into shouts of glee and threw her arms around her mother, knocking Harry back slightly, but Harry did not mind. He leaned against the counter and smiled at his mother and sister as Gwen placed her hand on Lily's stomach. Aiden looked to still be in shock. Nick slowly came forward and gave Lily a hug and kiss on the cheek as he congratulated her. He looked as if he felt like he should leave the family to their happiness, but Gwen grabbed his hand and placed it upon Lily's stomach.

"It feels like a girl, doesn't it?" Gwen asked Nick excitedly.

"Er…" Nick stated dubiously. Lily laughed.

"It's too early to know, Gwyneth," Lily explained, stroking her daughter's hair. "But I actually think it'll be a boy."

"A boy?" Gwen asked, disappointed. "What makes you think it'll be a boy?"

Lily smiled and looked at Harry. "Well, when I was pregnant with Harry and Aiden, my cravings consisted mostly of steaks and other meats. When I was pregnant with you, I craved sweets, especially ice cream."

"So?" Gwen asked.

Lily waved a hand to the refrigerator that Harry opened. It was filled with meat.

"That doesn't mean anything," Gwen stated crossly. The others laughed slightly over Gwen's crossness and even Gwen had to smile at herself. Finally, Gwen hugged her mother and told her that she'd love the baby just the same no matter what the gender was.

"Thank you oh so much for leaving the trunks for us, boys," James scolded as he and Sirius entered the kitchen. They were both holding the small of their backs as if they had pulled something. "We really appreciate it."

"The boys were preoccupied," Lily stated, merrily.

James' jaw dropped. "You told them without me!?!"

Lily smirked. "Of course I didn't. Harry, here, figured it out on his own. He must have felt the extra magic when he hugged me."

James grumbled, but no one paid any attention to him. Aiden, still looking shocked, slowly made his way forward and brought out a hand to Lily's stomach. Everyone in the kitchen remained silent as Aiden stared incredulously at his mother's stomach. After a few moments of staring, a smile crept across Aiden's face as he raised his eyes to his mother's eyes.

"I'm not the fucking baby anymore!" he exclaimed happily. Lily smiled.

"No more cursing, Aiden," she scolded. "We use happy words around the baby."

Everyone in the kitchen erupted in laughter and Harry felt happier than he had in months. He was home. This was where he belonged. This was who he was; he wasn't some angry orphan. He was a loving son and brother, and there was nothing that Dumbledore, Time, or some stupid book could do about it.

Or so he thought.

The next morning started out like any other. Harry awoke to a sun-filled room and the smell of breakfast drifting up the stairs from the kitchen. Gwen had her radio turned up to some peppy wizard band and Aiden was banging on the wall that separated his room from hers while he yelled obscenities to her for waking him up. Harry smiled. It was just another day at the Potter's. Any minute now, a neighbor would poke their head in a window and ask if everything is alright because they heard Aiden's yelling.

Harry threw his covers off, walked out into the hall, caught Aiden in his arms before his brother could reach their sister's room and kill her, and walked downstairs where his parents were putting breakfast on the table. Five minutes the family was eating their scrambled eggs happily. Aiden was telling them all a humerous story about the time Draco had ran out of shampoo when something strange happened to Harry.

One moment, he saw his brother, sitting across the table from him and talking happily, and the next he saw a cemetery, only for it to flash back to his brother at the dinner table a moment later. Harry blinked and rubbed his eyes, but when he did that he saw the cemetery again. He saw a man cut of his own hand and throw it into a cauldron. And then the memories came. The rushed into his mind at such a rapid speed, he thought his head would explode. There was Quidditch and dragons and dances and mer-people. And then there was Him, and Harry's head did explode…

"Harry." The voice sounded far away. "Harry, love, can you hear me?"

"Mum?" Harry asked. His throat hurt. He must have been screaming. With great difficulty, he managed to sit up and open his eyes. There was scrambled eggs all over his face; he obviously fell into his breakfast.

"Harry, not again," Gwen whispered next to him. She was frightened and Aiden was no where to be found.

"Not again?" James asked. He turned toward his son. "What happened, Harry?"

"I remembered the demented Harry's fourth year," Harry stated, not looking at either of his parents. "I've been getting his memories ever since I saw the movie. I'm going to bed."

Harry turned his back on the worried faces of his parents and sister and went into his room and passed out on the bed. It was dark when he awoke. After several minutes of staring at his ceiling, he descended the stairs and stopped when he saw his sister and best friend standing in front of a roaring fire in the fire place. Gwen was crying and Nick was wearing a Santa hat for some reason.

"I don't want to lose my brother," Gwen sniffed, resting her head on Nick's shoulder. Nick wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. Told her that Harry wasn't going anywhere. He then gently took her chin into his grasp and tilted her head. They stared at one another for a few moments before bringing their lips together in a tender kiss. The fire roared behind then, then turned green as Sirius' head appeared in it.

"LILY! HOW MANY CUPS OF SUGAR DO I NEED FOR…whoops, sorry, I'll come back later," Sirius smirked and then disappeared.

Harry smiled at the scene, but he couldn't stay there. He couldn't stay in a house that was full of people who he knew would slip from his fingers at any moment. Without thinking, he Apparated to the Weasley house.

"Ginny, hand me the butter," Mrs. Weasley instructed her daughter.

"Where is the butter?" Ginny asked, looking dubiously around herself.

"Fred! George! What have you done with the butter!"

"Ask Charlie!"

"Charles! Oh--hello Harry," Mrs. Weasley had turned around to find Harry Potter suddenly in her kitchen.

"Harry, hi!" Ginny stated softly, sending Harry a slight smile. Harry heard small explosions coming from the twin's room, laughter from the living room, and Christmas music in the background. "Ron and Hermione are up in Ron's room," Ginny informed. Harry nodded his thanks and made his way to the stairs, turning around before he went up and sending Ginny a questioning look. Should he interrupt them?

"They wouldn't do anything in this house," Ginny replied with a grin. Harry smiled back and made his way up to Ron's room. The door was open and Ron and Hermione were both on the bed. Hermione was sitting cross-legged and knitting, and Ron was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling and rubbing Hermione's back lazily. They looked at Harry as he entered, but didn't say anything.

They were there for him, in both of his lives. They were his rock, his shelter from the storm. They would always be there; they weren't going to fade away. They were his family and as long as he had them; he had the world.

"I need a hug," Harry told them, not feeling the least bit embarrassed about his request.

Ron and Hermione looked at one another for a moment before getting up from the bed and engulfing Harry in a hug. Harry held onto them and let their scents wash over him. As long as he had them, he would be alright. He could do anything, including reading that damn book locked in the bottom of his trunk.

**End Author's Note:** This chapter was a bit short, which I apologize for. There were several times that I was going to stray off what I have plotted, but that only complicated the overall story so I decided to just stick with the plot. For instance, I was going to have Harry and Nick baby-sit Astrid and Nox. Astrid and Nox are very interesting characters to me. They have a werewolf for a dad (GO LUPIN!) and a half vampire for a mum. I don't know if it's possible to be a half vampire, but I hear Blade (from the Blade movies or whatever) was a half vampire. I've never seen the Blade movies so I don't know how you can only be a half vampire, and I also don't know what the vampire powers were in that movie, but I have read Anne Rice's novels so I was basing the vampire stuff off of those. Remus' wife, Rose, is similar to Lupin in respect to the moon (now, keep in mind, I'm pulling this from my ass). When there's no moon, she's completely human. As the moon grows, her vampire powers do to. On the full moon, she's full vampire, and has to sleep in a coffin the day before and at night she has to go out and feed on blood (animal or criminal, you guys pick whichever makes you more comfortable). The girls never have to feed on blood or sleep in a coffin, but they do have acute senses, can read weak-minded peoples' minds, and jump very, very high, and fall from high up places and land on their feet. And thanks to their dad, they have an awesome metabolism. I don't know why I just told you guys all that. Oh well. I figure there's only going to be two or three more chapters to this fic. I'll be SOO happy when it's completed.


	7. Running

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** I've been working every single night and I'm very sick. I can't remember the last time I was this sick. Anywho, enough with me rambling. Most of the reviews mentioned that they liked the Trio bonding part at the end, Sirius barging in on Nick and Gwen, and they also are in shock that this story is almost done. I really don't have any comments except a big thank you for reviewing. Also, last chapter didn't really take place on Christmas day in my head. It was more like…either Christmas Eve or the day before Christmas Eve. But that doesn't matter anymore…on with the story. **Added Later:** Kari mentioned a good fact. If Harry Apparated without knowing, wouldn't he have splintched himself? Well, he knew he was going to Apparate because he wanted to get out of there, he just wasn't quite sure where to go (though deep in his subconscious he knew where). Kind of like when we're walking and we end up some place because our feet just take us there.

**Disclaimer:** As usual, I do not own stuff you recognize. Also, my outline for the plot of this story stopped with the last chapter. So from here on out, I'm pulling everything from my butt. Thank you.

Chapter Seven

_Running_

Outside the castle, the February rain fell in sheets, washing away the debris of winter and preparing the grounds for the coming spring. Inside the castle, Harry Potter's tears cascaded down his cheeks and tinted them red instead of their normal pale color. It was four o'clock on a Friday afternoon and Harry was sitting on his bed with his curtains pulled around him in the empty dormitory as he cried like a child.

He had decided over Christmas break to read Double Lives, but doing so was easier said then done. First, Harry told himself that he would read it after the Christmas holiday. Then he decided that waiting another week and starting it after New Years wouldn't hurt either. New Years came and Harry came to the conclusion that he should enjoy his last few days at home and that he would start it after he returned to school. But his school load intensified when he returned and between studying, Quidditch practice, and spending time with his siblings and friends, Harry hardly found time to brush his teeth, much less read a book. However, when February came, Harry realized that time was running out and that he would have to read the book soon.

The first chapter of the book was just like Nick had said. It explained that a very powerful witch or wizard who has had a very terrible life could alter time to make their lives somewhat better. It also explained that this process was extremely complicated and that it was not very well known. First, the witch or wizard in question, would have to brew a very difficult potion and drink it every night. This potion would put the drinker into a very sedated sleep and eventually, they will begin to have dreams about a time in their life that they could change for the better; this time is usually when the witch or wizard is a child. The witch or wizard must continue to brew and drink the potion and fall into the sedated sleep and dream the same dream for two months straight, in which time they will be able to think about what they want to do to change their lives.

After two months of drinking the potion, they will fall into a sedated sleep once more, only this time, they possess their younger selves and they then have five minutes to do whatever they want to change the future. After the five minutes are up, the first life ceases to exist, the child is no longer possessed, and the life they live becomes the best that they can imagine; however, it is a second life, and the rules of time state that the first life will return.

The complicated part is that the witch or wizard in question will not remember the possession nor will they remember the first life, unless someone or something draws the possession to their attention.

_'That was the movie,'_ Harry thought while he read.

They will then begin to remember everything about their first life and may even slowly develop traits that their original self possessed but they may not have possessed in their second life.

_'My scar and glasses,' _Harry thought. _'So I'm right on track, but what do I have to do next?' _Harry continued reading.

Once they remember everything from their first life, they will then have until the night of the possession to figure out how to change something so that, when they go back to their first life, it would be a bit better. This choice is a tough one because they can not change their life so that everything is perfect like they did for their second life.

_'So Voldemort has to kill my parents.' _That was when Harry started to cry. He would lose his parents, his brother and sister, Astrid, Nox, Nick, and eventually Sirius.

_'Sirius! I could do something so that Sirius doesn't die!' _Harry thought excitedly. His face soon fell as he remembered the end of his fifth year. The prophesy. If Sirius didn't die, Harry would not know of the prophesy. _'And if I don't know of the prophesy, then I won't be prepared for it and I could very well end up dead.'_

Harry looked down at the book upon his bed as anger boiled up inside of him. "Piss it," he said, picking the book up and throwing it out of his bed.

"Ouch! Bloody hell, Harry, did you have to throw the book that hard?"

Ron opened Harry's bed curtains while rubbing a spot on his head where the book had apparently hit him. He saw Harry's red eyes and tear-stained cheeks and furrowed his brow in confusion. "What's wrong, mate?" Ron asked, sitting on the edge of Harry's bed.

Harry sighed and told him everything that he had just read. Ron was silent the whole time, listening to every word Harry spoke and nodding his head at intervals. The two young men were silent after Harry finished. Ron seemed to be deep in thought and Harry was too exhausted to think of anything.

"So how do you change whatever so whatever you want to stop from happening in the first life doesn't happen?" Ron asked at last.

Harry flopped down upon his back and stared at his bed's canopy. "I have no fucking idea," he stated dully.

Ron was silent for a long time. After awhile, he got up from Harry's bed, went to where the book was on the floor, picked it up and brought it over to his own bed where he started reading it. Harry was about to drift off to sleep when Ron spoke again.

"What about a letter?"

"What?" Harry asked, keeping his eyes close and feeling resentful that Ron wasn't letting him sleep.

"Well, what if you wrote yourself a letter and you hid it somewhere where only you would find it?" Ron elaborated. "This one bloke, William Greene, he etched his message on the back of his mother's tombstone during his second life. See, he had a terrible life because, when he was eighteen, he forced his half-sister, as a joke, to try to Apparate even though she was way too young for it. She managed to do it without splintching herself, but she Apparated onto a train track just as a train came and she died. So he went back to when he was four for his second life and made it so that his dad never met his step mom. He then found out about the possession somehow and etched a message to himself on his mother's tombstone so that he never told his sister to Apparate and when time was restored, she was alive."

Harry was now sitting up, hanging on to Ron's every word. Ron looked at him for a moment before turning his blue eyes back to the book.

"So once you decide what you want to change," Ron continued, "just write yourself a note about it, and put it somewhere where you would find it when you're a kid."

"Ron, you're a bloody genius," Harry said, getting up from his bed and pacing the dormitory floor. "But the question is, what do I change? The book already told me that I can't change what I did the first time, so I'm going to have to lose my family." Harry stopped his pacing and winced. It made him physically sick to know that he couldn't save them.

"What about saving Sirius?" Ron suggested. Harry had told him and the others all about his fifth year as he remembered it.

"I thought about that," Harry replied as he began to pace again. "I could save him, but then I wouldn't know about the prophesy and I wouldn't be prepared to face Voldemort. I'd die and he'd come into power again, and then everyone will die!"

"What if you warned yourself about the Triwizard Cup being a portkey?" Ron asked.

Harry stopped for a moment. "There's an idea," he said before scowling and shaking his head. "No, that was when he became mortal. If he doesn't become mortal, then I can't kill him. Everything fifth year and under must happen." Harry sighed and plopped back down onto his bed. "It's hopeless," he mumbled.

"What if," Ron spoke up. Harry looked at him. He was sitting on his bed, gazing despondently down at the book in his lap.

"What if what?" Harry prodded.

Ron shook his head. "Never mind. I'm going down to dinner. You coming?"

Harry stood and followed Ron down to the Great Hall, but he ate very little. His mind refused to stop contemplating what the book had informed him. He figured that whatever he had to change must take place during either his sixth or seventh year and he was frustrated because he did not remember more than a few meaningless events from those two years. By the time he and the others returned to the common room and took out their homework, he thought of a new problem. How much time did he have left before time restored itself?

Harry was so lost in his brainstorming that he didn't realize that Gwen was throwing a tantrum about Divination next to him. She ranted and raved and tore her book apart. The common room was filled with little bits of paper raining down on the students like confetti. Harry wouldn't have noticed it at all if a piece didn't fall in front of him. He was about to brush it off of the table when he noticed what was written on it.

_May 7th._

_Harry stared at it as if he had never seen a date before. It was the answer to his question. On May 7th, he would go back to his first life. He didn't know how long he sat at the table in a complete stupor, but by the time Ron shook him from his reverie, Gwen and the others had already cleaned up the common room._

"Are you okay, man?" Ron asked Harry while handing Gwen some spello-tape for her book. "The potions essay isn't that hard, is it?"

"The potions essay doesn't matter anymore," Harry mumbled dully.

Hermione gasped and fell off her chair. "But, Harry! N.E.W.Ts are just a few months away!" she exclaimed, standing up.

"Not for me," Harry said, and with that he rose from his seat, left his books behind and ascended the stairs to the boy's dormitories. He barged into the seventh year dorm and with a wave of his wand, started packing his trunk.

"Harry, what the hell are you doing?" Seamus asked from the study group that he, Neville, and Dean had formed.

"I'm going home," Harry announced, closing his trunk and kicking the dormitory door open. His three roommates followed and announced to the whole common room what Harry was doing when they reached it. Everyone followed him out of the portrait and through the halls, screaming out Harry's plans at the top of their lungs. By the time he reached the Great Hall, the whole of the school was tailing him. He pushed one of the front doors open when he heard a scream from behind him.

"Don't go!" Gwen shouted, breaking free from the crowd and throwing herself at Harry. She took fistfuls of his shirt as she cried upon his chest. "Don't leave me," she whimpered.

"It's better this way," Harry whispered. "I have to get used to not being with you guys. I have to distance myself. It's not real."

"Not real?" Gwen whispered back, pulling away from Harry and staring at him. She was silent for a very long time, her chest rising and falling as she breathed in heavily. "How dare you," she stated at last, gazing at Harry angrily. She grabbed his hand and placed it upon her chest so that he could feel her heart beating fiercely beneath her uniform. "Do you think that this doesn't exist? Do you think it'll just disappear after you leave and that everything will be fine. We LOVE you, Harry!" she screamed. Many of the students and teachers around them were looking at one another oddly. They didn't understand what was going on. Gwen continued her raving. "We love you and that will never disappear!"

Gwen turned on her heel and made to run back into the crowd but she tripped in her frustration and fell to the floor where she elapsed into heaving sobs. The crowd parted once again to reveal Aiden coming forward. His eyes locked with Harry's as he approached. He seemed calm and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps his brother would understand.

But Aiden did not understand. He approached Harry and stared for a moment before raising his fist and punching Harry so hard that the older boy had to take a few steps backward from the blow. Aiden did not punch again; instead, he went to where Gwen was crying and hugged her. Nick then came forward and stood between Harry and his siblings. Harry wanted Nick to punch him too; he felt as if he deserved it, but Nick only gave Harry a sad look.

"I'll take care of them," he whispered. "You just go."

Harry nodded, took his trunk and left. The heavy entrance doors of Hogwarts closed behind him with a resounding 'thump' and the darkness of night covered him now that the bright, cheery lights of the Great Hall were blocked. Rain continued to fall from the Heavens, matting Harry's messy mane to his forehead and covering what was now a very visible lightening bolt scar. Harry shivered and pulled out his cloak from his trunk, put it on, and hooded himself. Then, with a final look at the school he loved, he picked up his trunk and walked down the sloping lawn.

Five minutes later, he exited the front gates and was standing on the road that led down to Hogsmede. It was then that Harry's brain kicked into gear over what he had just done. He had half a mind to storm back up to the castle and announce to everyone that they had all fallen victim to his most awesome prank yet, but common sense soon took over.

_'You have more important things to concentrate on than some examination you won't be taking,' _a voice in the back of his mind told him. _'Go home, Harry.'_

Harry sighed and gazed down at the twinkling lights of Hogsmede before taking out his wand and Apparating into the back yard of the Potter residence. It wasn't raining; the stars were shining brightly and Harry found it odd. He approached the house, slid the back sliding door open and walked into the dining room, dragging his trunk behind him.

It appeared that his parents had invited the next door neighbors over for dinner. Five confused faces looked at a drenched Harry as he intruded upon their meal.

"Hi," Harry greeted, placing his trunk down in a corner and unclasping his cloak. Lily stared back at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. James' brow was furrowed and he turned his head this way and that as if he was expecting Sirius to jump out of the pantry and laugh at the joke. Mr. and Mrs. Williams had delighted, yet dumbfounded, expressions on their faces and their fifteen-year-old daughter, Hannah, looked as if Christmas had come early.

"Hello, Harry!" she greeted cheerfully as her eyes roamed up and down Harry's frame.

"Hello," Harry replied, heading into the kitchen and fetching himself a plate and some silverware. "What's for dinner, Mum? I'm starving," Harry commented, setting his items down on the table in the place next to his mother. James and Lily were still staring at Harry as if they didn't believe what they were seeing.

"Dad. Mum. Kiddo," Harry greeted, nodding to his parents in turn and patting his mother's burgeoning stomach affectionately.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams were shooting cautious glances at Harry and his parents. James reached for the bottle of wine that they were serving and checked the ingredients as if he expected to find a hallucinogen in it.

"That looks good, Dad," Harry commented, eyeing the wine as he scooped mashed potatoes onto his plate. "Poor me a glass, will you?"

James raised his head and looked at Harry in complete shock as he grabbed an empty glass and filled it up. He handed the glass to Lily who handed it to Harry.

"Tanks," Harry said through a mouthful of steak.

"When did you get glasses, Harry?" Hannah asked in a conversational manner.

"A while ago," Harry answered back before taking a sip of his wine.

"What happened to your forehead?"

"Soccer accident."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

The adults were still silent and staring in shock whereas the teenagers were eating merrily as if this were an everyday thing.

"Is Gwen and Aiden all right?" Hannah asked.

"Positively splendid!"

"Aiden still growing?"

"Indeed he is."

"How tall is he now?"

"A few inches shorter than me. His voice broke in September."

"You look sexy in your uniform."

"I know I do."

"Hannah, darling, I think it's time we head home; you have school in the morning," Mr. Williams piped up, placing his napkin on the table and rising from his seat.

"But tomorrow's Satur…" Hannah was yanked from her chair before she could even finish her sentence. Mr. and Mrs. Williams dragged her out of the dining room and toward the front door, as they shouted out their compliments for the dinner. A moment later, the front door opened and closed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" James asked at last, eyeing Harry suspiciously and crossing his arms over his chest.

Harry looked up at his father and continued chewing his meat. "I live here," he stated after he had swallowed.

"Yes, I know, but…why?" James asked, completely confused.

"Why what? Why do I live here? Because the two of you love each other very much and had sex one night and conceived me; nine months later, I was born thus, I live with you."

"Why are you home when you should be in school?" James clarified, a vein throbbing over his right eye.

Harry prodded his scar and continued eating.

"What happened, Harry?" his mother asked.

Harry sighed. "Look, on May 7th, this life will disappear and I'll go back to the first life--His life," he explained somberly. "School doesn't matter right now."

There was a silence for a moment before James spoke again:

"You've gone mad."

"Have not."

"Have too! Harry, you're completely mental! Yes, that incident from when you were younger was strange and I don't blame you for being scared of it, but, Merlin, Harry, you're taking this too far!" James' eyes were bulging from their sockets in an enraged manner. "What do you do? Take your razor to your forehead when you shave so that cut appears and you can write it off as some keepsake from a past life?"

"James!" Lily scolded.

"Lily!"

"Dad!"

"Harry!"

"Albus!"

The family was silent and confused for a moment before turning around to see a wizened wizard standing in their kitchen.

"Please don't stop! This game is so much fun!" Dumbledore commented while smiling.

"Ahah! Here's Dumbledore to take you back, Harry," James announced, rising from his seat and going over to greet the old man. Lily rose as well but Harry stayed in his chair, half turned so that he could see the older people.

"Actually, James," Dumbledore stated, walking over to Harry, "I am just here to give your son a note his brother and sister wrote, apologizing for their behavior earlier. And Mr. Weasley asks me to give you this," Dumbledore added, handing Harry the letter from his siblings and a sock. "He found it under his bed."

"Professor?" Lily asked, confused.

"Harry, I'm afraid, is undergoing some nasty side effects of a potion gone wrong," Dumbledore explained. "It makes him think up some ridiculous story and stick to it adamantly. Luckily, these effects will wear off in time, but I'm afraid all we can do in the meantime is humor him. So Harry will have to stay here until he is completely better. I'm sure this will wear off before summer and Harry can finish his schooling then."

Lily nodded in understanding and shook Dumbledore's hand while James cursed Snape under his breath. Dumbledore was gone a moment later, after accepting a biscuit from Lily. Harry's parents turned toward him.

"I'm not crazy," Harry mumbled.

"Of course you're not," Lily said, going to her son and kissing his hair. James was still cursing Snape. "It's just as well," Lily continued, picking up the abandoned plates on the table and bringing them to the sink, "we'll need an extra hand when…" She patted her stomach and smiled.

"What gender is it?" Harry asked while opening his letter and reading it.

"Not telling," James said. Harry could not see his father since he was reading, but he knew that a smirk was on James' face.

"You two are evil," Harry commented, skimming the letter.

Gwen had written two pages full of apologies and excuses for her behavior. Aiden's was much shorter and consisted of an apology then a rave of how cool his punch was. Harry was about to pocket the letter when he saw a scrawl at the bottom of Aiden's letter that wasn't in either of his sibling's handwritings.

_Harry--I lied to your parents and siblings. It's easier for them to believe a lie than live with the truth. I know this is difficult for you, but it's even worse for them. At least you get to exist. I'm sorry if I offended you with my lie, but it is best you leave school and focus on more important matters. If you need to talk to me, you know where to find me--AD_

_Harry smiled and pocketed the letter. He had known that Dumbledore wasn't being serious with his parents and it comforted him to have someone to talk to if he needed it. _

"Now what the hell are we supposed to do with these?" James yelled, bringing Harry back into his parent's conversation. Harry looked up to see his father brandishing two identical T-shirts. Half of the shirt was red and it had Harry's Quidditch number in gold on the sleeve and the other half was green and had Aiden's Quidditch number on the sleeve in silver.

Harry smiled and waved his wand so that the whole shirt was green and sported Aiden's name on one sleeve and number on the other. James groaned.

"We can't support Slytherin!" he whined.

"You're son is in Slytherin, James! Get over it!" Lily scolded. James made a noise that sounded much like a three-year-old whimpering and stomped out of the room. Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Harry. "Well, don't just sit there! Help your 7 month pregnant Mum with the dishes!"

**End Author's Note:** I hope this chapter made sense to everyone. When I was writing it, I was thinking, 'oh this is just going to confuse people,' so I stopped. Then today, I pulled it up and reread it and I think I explained things quite well. I think I'll have Mariah or Kari give it a read through before I post it, though. Just to be sure. The beginning of this chapter started out all angst ridden and it ended light-heartedly. By the way, the whole, "James, Lily, Dad, Harry, Albus,' thing was sort of stolen from Shrek II when they were all at the dinner table and everyone was mad except Donkey and they kept saying each other's names and then Donkey was just like, "Donkey!" Hehe…hilarious! Er…I do not own Shrek II. Oh, and some of you might have noticed a change in Gwen, Aiden and Nick. At the beginning of this story, they thought that Harry's memories and stuff were interesting and never minded when he talked about his 'first life'. But now they're upset over it. Why? Well, Nick hung back and listened through the door when Dumbledore and Phineas were talking. He heard that they were in a second life, that he, himself, shouldn't exist and that time would be restored eventually and he'd disappear. So he of course told Gwen this, who got scared and told Aiden. So they're all scared, confused, and in denial about it. Not existing is worse than death. So Dumbledore told them the potions lie and they believe it because they want to believe anything other than the truth. Deep, deep, deep down, they know the potion lie isn't true because a) Harry started this during summer when Snape wasn't having him try out potions in class, and b) Nick had actually heard Dumbledore and Phineas say that it would happen. But they're in denial, so they believe the potion thing because it's easier to think that. Same with Lily and James. Those two just don't want to believe that their children will die. And this has NOTHING to do with the story, but I just decided yesterday (or the day before, can't remember which) that Aiden's ears are double pierced.


	8. Sympathy for the Devil

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** Questions and Comments!!! Babbitt asks why I picked May 7th as the day for Harry to go back. Long ago, I was going to have it happen in June, but I didn't feel like having him study for NEWTs and stuff so I wanted him to go back before June. So then it was going to be late May, but when it came time to pick an actual date, I decided to make it on my birthday. I like to ramble. I could have easily just said, "Because it's my birthday," but I went on and on with rambles. Oh well. I'm sorry that Harry and Ginny aren't closer in this fic, gallandro-83. I originally didn't plan for Harry to hook up with anyone because this isn't a romance, really. Hello Straycat! Christina wants to know what Ron was going to tell Harry…I'll tell you guys later. Torifire 126 points out that in England soccer is football. -smacks self- I knew that. Hi Sara! I think this story will end after eleven chapters so we're almost done. As for the genius part…well… Eve West, your review was very flattering…how's your precious lamp? I'm glad you understood it, Secretly Smiling. And melonheart gave me another genius comment. Thank you. And thank you also to Uncreative who likes a lot of stuff.

**Disclaimer:** You guys know the drill.

Chapter Eight  
_Sympathy for the Devil_

The ides of March had come and gone and Harry was exhausted. His days and nights were plagued with flashbacks of a year he would rather forget. In his dreams, he watched his friends grow sickly. Their skin was translucent. Their eyes, dull and bloodshot. They were already losing the war and Harry had only remembered up to October of sixth year. Voldemort seemed invincible.

_'He's not invincible! He's mortal! You can kill him, you just have to think of how!'_

"Kill who?"

Harry quickly looked up to find Astrid's inquisitive blue eyes gazing at him. It was a full moon and Harry had offered to spend the night at Lupin's house to watch the girls. The evening had not gone well; Harry was tired and Remus had made the mistake of giving the girls a lot of sugar, leaving them very hyper for Harry. Nox was currently swinging on the chandelier.

"Nox, get down from there," Harry scolded feebly, going to the couch and plopping down into its depths. Astrid followed and sat on the edge of the coffee table so that she faced Harry.

"Kill who?" she asked again.

"You've never read my mind before," Harry mumbled.

"You've never let your guard down before," Astrid countered. "Kill who?"

"Voldemort."

There was a small 'eep' and a loud clamor as Nox fell from the chandelier in shock. She somersaulted in mid-air and landed on her feet, facing Harry and Astrid. "You said a swear word!" she scolded, pointing a finger at Harry before running off to her bedroom, blonde pigtails bouncing up and down as she did so. Astrid merely rolled her eyes and stared pointedly at Harry. He felt her probe around in his brain and he gently pushed her out of it.

"There're things in there you shouldn't see," he told her.

Astrid scowled but didn't argue. She sighed and was silent for awhile, her face looking as though she was thinking of a way to help Harry. "Daddy always told me to know my enemies," she stated suddenly.

"I know my enemy. His name is Voldemort. He's old and ugly. He has a pet snake."

Astrid giggled. "Yes, but do you really know him?" she asked. "Perhaps if you talked to him and find out about him, then maybe you'll be able to think of a way to kill him," she stated wisely.

Harry leaned forward and stared incredulously at the girl. Could she be right? Dumbledore did say that they would help. Aiden found the movie. Nick, the book. Gwen, the date. Ron, the letter idea. Harry had to fight back a chuckle. Ron wasn't supposed to be one of the helpers, but he was such a great guy that he was helping anyway.

"Why are you smiling?" Astrid asked.

"Because you are as smart as your dad," Harry told her, picking her up and spinning her around. She was smiling broadly when he set her down. "And because you're so lovely, you're going to make a big bowl of popcorn and pick out a movie and we're going to stay up tonight and watch TV!"

"Can we watch _Beauty and the Beast_?" Astrid asked, hopefully.

"We can watch it twelve times if that's what you want," Harry replied, heading toward the stairs as Astrid shrieked in joy and ran to the kitchen to make popcorn. Harry went into Nox's room to find her atop her bookshelf. It took some coaxing to get her down, and even then, Harry had to let her hit him several times with her inflatable baseball bat as his punishment for saying such a disgusting name. But after Harry had made the hurt puppy dog face, Nox smiled and ran into his arms. He carried her downstairs and they joined Astrid on the couch as the movie started.

The girls fell asleep a little after midnight, and Harry let them stay on the couch as he turned the DVD player off and watched infomercials and reruns for most of the night, not wanting to fall asleep incase a nightmare came and he and the girls woke up in blood from his scar. Before Harry knew it, the living room was filled with morning sunshine.

"Aw, Harry, you're not going all soft like Nick, are you?"

Harry retched his eyes away from the morning news to see Remus entering the living room, looking tired and shaggy, but none-the-less cheerful.

"Of course not," Harry replied, smiling. "I was sad. The girls made me feel better. I rewarded them!" Harry slowly got up from the couch, careful not to disturb the girls who were snuggled up against him. Once he was up, he stretched, scratched his neck, and followed Remus into the kitchen.

"Do you want to stay for breakfast?" the older man asked, bending down to get a frying pan from a cabinet.

Harry picked up a banana from the fruit bowl and indicated to Remus that it would be his breakfast before going over to the refrigerator and taking out a juice box.

"You sure you don't want a proper breakfast?" Remus asked again as Harry sat down at the counter and jabbed a straw into his juice box.

"Nah, I've got stuff I need to do today," he informed, peeling his banana.

Remus smirked at him as he continued to get out ingredients for breakfast. "Got a Muggle girlfriend?" he asked.

"No, don't feel much like dating at the moment. But I am meeting up with someone."

"Who?" asked Remus. He wasn't suspicious, only curious, trying to make conversation.

"One of my old Muggle guy friends from primary school," Harry lied.

"Ah, going to try to get kicked out of the mall again?"

"No, I need some new jeans." Harry finished his food and threw his trash away. Remus took out his wallet.

"Do you want Muggle money or Wizard?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You babysat my girls last night. I pay you. That's how this babysitting thing works," Remus explained, handing Harry several notes.

Harry gently pushed Remus' hand back. "Freebie," he stated before Apparating back home where he showered and left a note to his parents that he would be out with 'old friends' that day. He then took a deep breath and Apparated just outside the Hogwarts gates. He opened them and stepped back onto the lawn. Several students were out by the lake, but Harry did not stop to talk to them. He marched right into the castle, past the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase.

"Oof!" Harry fell to the ground as something attacked him around his middle.

"Harry! We won!"

"Aiden, that's the second time this year that you tackled me in the hall!"

"We kicked your ass at Quidditch!" Aiden continued, ignoring Harry.

"I know, I was there! Sitting with Mum and Dad, wearing a green T-shirt, remember? Ron's still livid at me."

"Oh, right."

Harry smiled, ruffled his brother's hair and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Aiden asked, trailing behind like a puppy.

"I need to speak to Dumbledore."

"I'll take you to his office! I know the password."

"How do you know the password?" Harry asked, stopping to stare at his brother.

"I got caught pummeling Malfoy with dung bombs!"

"Good lad," Harry praised, walking once more.

"Do you know what sex the baby is? Mum and Dad won't tell me!"

"They won't tell me either."

"Why not?"

"Because they're evil. What's the password?" They had come to the Headmaster's office.

"Milk duds," Aiden said and the gargoyle sprung to life and stepped aside.

"Another Muggle candy?" Harry asked.

"What can I say? The man's a nut!" Aiden blushed at his 'nut' remark and shot a furtive look at Harry. It took Harry a moment before he realized that his siblings were still under the impression that he was insane.

"Right, well, tell Gwen and Nick that I say hi." And with that, Harry stepped onto the revolving staircase and entered Dumbledore's office.

"I was wondering when you'd come by," Dumbledore greeted from his desk.

"I need to see him," Harry announced, cutting to the chase.

"See who?"

"Voldemort."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and surveyed Harry over his half moon spectacles.

"We were losing the war. I want to know my enemy," Harry elaborated.

Dumbledore smiled proudly at Harry. "I am beginning to see why he marked you as an equal in the first life," he commented before rising from his chair and stepping around his desk. "Fawks," Dumbledore addressed, turning to the red bird who was preening himself on his perch, "take over while I'm gone."

Fawks squawked and flew over to perch himself in Dumbledore's chair. It was quite comical to see a bird's head looking importantly over the massive desk. Harry wondered if Dumbledore was completely sane.

"This way, Harry. This way."

Dumbledore had gone to the back of his office and opened up a small trap door. "Through here," Dumbledore instructed, crouching down and disappearing through the door. Harry did the same and found himself on a dark and narrow staircase. The pair began to descend and Harry heard the hustle and bustle of the castle in the walls around him. He heard Snape giving someone Remedial Potions through a vent and Harry knew that they were on the same level as the dungeons, and they were still going deeper and deeper into the ground.

A half an hour later, the stairs finally stopped and hit level ground. They were now in a tunnel and they were still walking. Finally, Harry spotted a large, rectangular light that had shadows of bars through it. It was a jail cell and Harry knew who was on the other side of the bars. His stomach clenched and he broke into a sweat as he approached the bars and looked into the cell.

It was brightly lit and reasonably furnished. A dresser, a desk, a nightstand and a bed. On the bed sat a skinny man, his face hidden behind a book. Harry took a deep, shuddering breath as the book slowly lowered and a pair of cold, black eyes stared at him.

"AAHHH!" Harry screamed, backing away from the bars as if they were venomous snakes and hitting the dirt wall behind him.

"Oh great, Dumbledore, showing me off like a freak show now?" came a cruel voice. The same voice that had plagued Harry's nightmares for two lifetimes. Dumbledore did not answer; instead, he gazed evenly from Harry to Voldemort and back again. Harry was still up against the wall, breathing in deeply. Voldemort's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the teenager. "Who is this boy?" he asked in barely a whisper.

Harry gathered up all of his Gryffindor bravery and took several steps closer to the cell so that the light fell upon his face.

"James?" Voldemort asked with despise.

"No," Harry said, hoping that his voice sounded brave, but fearing it didn't.

"Harry?" Voldemort tried again. Harry nodded, his mouth suddenly dry. "Have I really been down here this long?" Voldemort asked more to himself than to the others. "How old are you Harry?"

Harry gripped the bars for support. "I'll be eighteen in a few months."

Voldemort nodded slowly; he seemed to be in great thought. Harry continued to stare at him. He was not the Voldemort of his first life. He was still a man. An immortal man, but a man none-the-less. He had peach colored skin and black eyes, and he even had hair. Gray with a few wisps of black that made him look almost dignified.

"I'll leave you two alone," Dumbledore stated somberly. Harry's head jolted to look at the older man, his eyes pleading for him to stay, but Harry knew he had to overcome his fear of Voldemort and so he watched as Dumbledore's back retreated down the dark tunnel.

"Why are you here, boy?"

Slowly, Harry turned back to face him. He was still on his bed, gazing at him inquisitively.

"I want to talk to you," Harry replied.

"So Dumbledore's treating me like an old man in a nursing home. How lovely."

Harry smirked. "More like a school project."

Voldemort began to swear under his breath. Harry very much liked pushing his buttons.

"I was going to kill you, you know," Voldemort said when he caught sight of Harry smiling. "You and your father were next on my list before that blundering idiot, Pettigrew, ruined everything."

"You're the blundering idiot, and I'm the one who ruined everything," Harry told him, proudly.

The next half an hour was spent with Voldemort in a rage, pacing furiously back and forth in his cell, yelling out all sorts of insults and letting out sixteen years worth of frustration.

"It wasn't always like this," he stated at last, coming very near to the bars. "I was really feared once!" And then he described what he called 'the good old days'. He started talking about his life, starting from just before he was arrested and going back from there. His reign of terror, how he came to power, his Hogwarts days. The hours passed and Harry and Voldemort lapsed into almost conversational tones. Voldemort recounting his life and Harry asking questions, trying to know the man more.

"Did you play Quidditch?" Harry asked as a house elf materialized to slide a tray of food to Voldemort through the bars and giving Harry a bowl of stew and glass of pumpkin juice.

"Pfft, no!" Voldemort exclaimed, buttering a crumpet. "I was a nerd, boy. I read! I didn't play sports! Well…" Voldemort paused, taking a bite of his crumpet. "Sometimes they forced me to play…rugby…or whatever…at that place…during the summers."

"The orphanage?" Harry asked.

"Shut up, you stupid brat!" Voldemort snapped. "You have no idea what it's like."

"Being an orphan?" Harry inquired.

"Yes."

"I have a pretty good idea."

Voldemort sneered. "This from James and Lily's eldest child. You have two younger siblings, correct?"

"Third one on the way," Harry announced proudly.

"Lovely," Voldemort replied with sarcasm. "You have no idea," he whispered again.

"You can't trust anyone. You don't fit in anywhere. People see you as dirty, vile, stupid--am I getting close?" Harry asked.

Voldemort was staring at him incredulously, as if he had never seen him before. Harry felt a probing in the back of his mind and he roughly pushed the intruder out. "Remus Lupin's daughters have vampire blood in them. They can read minds; I was taught at an early age how to block it off."

"How do you know about being an orphan?" Voldemort asked.

"Lucky guess," Harry replied bitterly.

"Well, you did come quite close," Voldemort continued on. "Especially with the trusting thing. Everyone out to get you, to break you because you're already broken so it doesn't matter."

"You have to learn to watch your back at all times," Harry added miserably.

"And sometimes, you're too busy watching your back that you forget to watch your front," Voldemort agreed.

Harry froze. _Watch your front._ For some reason, that phrase struck a cord with Harry, though he didn't know why.

"I should get home to my parents," Harry stated suddenly, rising from the spot on the floor he had sat in and turning his back to Voldemort. He had taken one step away from the bars when he felt icy fingers enclose around his left wrist.

"There's something you're not telling me," Voldemort whispered, his breath brushing past the back of Harry's neck and making his hair stand on end. The teen shuddered.

"I'm not hiding anything," Harry answered back, not turning around to face his enemy.

"Liar," Voldemort hissed.

Harry retched his wrist from the icy grasp and took several steps away from the cell before turning around and glaring at Voldemort with hatred. "It takes one to know one," he stated angrily before running off down the tunnel.

He was nearly dead when he finally made it back into Dumbledore's office. His legs were nearly numb and his lungs burned. He fell to the floor and laid there, wishing he could fall asleep.

"What happened, Harry?" Dumbledore asked from above him.

"I just had to get away from him," Harry stated in between breaths. "I ran the whole way here. Don't worry, I'll Apparate home in a minute."

"You'll do no such thing!" Dumbledore scolded, helping Harry to his feet. "You're in no state to Apparate; you're taking the Floo."

"I hate the Floo," Harry whined as Dumbledore escorted him into the fireplace and handed him the pot of Floo Powder. Harry took a handful, mumbled his home, and tucked his elbows in as the familiar rushing started. Moments later, he stepped out of the fire place and into the Potter living room. The house was dark and quiet. Harry figured his parents didn't wait up for him, so he ascended the stairs and showered as quickly as he could before passing out in his bed.

"Fun night last night?"

"Huh?" Harry opened his eyes to be greeted with bright morning sunshine and his father glaring at him from over his bed.

"You came home rather late. Used the Floo too. So I had to ask myself why my seventeen-year-old son felt that he couldn't Apparate home on a Sunday morning. Have you been drinking without me?" James spat out. Harry had to smile. Most parents would be mad over their children drinking but James was mad that he wasn't invited.

"No, I was just tired and didn't want to try my luck with Apparating."

"Ah," James said absentmindedly, going over to Harry's desk and sitting on it.

"What are you doing up in my room, anyway?" Harry asked when his father continued to sit on his desk.

"Lily's fussy," James said in a low whisper and pointing to his head where a lump had formed from where Lily had obviously smacked him with a rather large book.

"Mmm," Harry mumbled, getting out of bed and rummaging through the clothes on his floor for a pair of jeans.

"Got a letter from your siblings today," James stated casually.

Harry froze. "You did?"

"Yeah, they tell me you've been at Hogwarts yesterday. So, you going to tell me who the girl is?"

"Huh?" Harry asked again. He didn't like being asked questions so early in the morning.

"That's why you visited Hogwarts, isn't it?" James asked, smiling slyly. "You've got a girlfriend hidden away from us. Gwen did mention something about you and Ginny Weasley over the holidays."

Harry blushed and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know what Ginny and I are," he admitted in an embarrassed fashion.

"Like her, do ya?"

"Yeah."

"Love her?"

"I don't know."

"Are you two…?"

"DAD!"

"Sorry, sorry, not my place," James apologized, holding up his hands. "It's just, you know, if you two decide to…you'll use the charm, right?"

Harry sighed in an annoyed manner. "Yes, Dad."

"Hey, I'm just looking out for you, son," James explained. "We don't want any baby scares."

"Did you and Mum have any baby scares?"

"Of course not."

"James Potter, where the hell is my double cheeseburger?" Lily bellowed from downstairs. James groaned and rolled his eyes. "Duty calls," he mumbled, hopping off of Harry's desk and heading toward the door. He paused just before it. "Sirius had a scare once," he mentioned out of the blue. "Just out of Hogwarts. Before he met Kate."

**End Author's Note: **I'm tired. I was going to explain something, but I forgot what it was.


	9. Extraordinary Girl

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** I just want to say a big congrats to JK Rowling. Anywho, I'm going to do the comments differently in this chapter because I'm tired of writing them in conversational tones.

_Dementist:_ I'm glad you like the story. I got the idea for this fic months ago when I was watching "The Butterfly Effect" . The Voldemort in this fic is slightly (more) insane due to being locked up for 15 years with no one to really talk to. Stuff like that does things to the mind.

_Sara:_ I liked the babysitting scene too.

_Kari: "_Beauty and the Beast" is their favorite film because the beast reminds them of their daddy. And I like the fact that I made Harry an Occlumens in this fic too. Makes him seem cool--for now.

_Skyshifter:_ You're welcome.

_Secretly Smiling:_ I'm glad you like James.

_MissBlueAngel:_ I'm updating, I'm updating. Keep yer shirt on.

_Eve West:_ -hands you a hair pin so you and the lamp can escape-

_Max Krugman:_ Thank you.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them.

Chapter Nine

_Extraordinary Girl_

"Harry!"

Harry Potter lazily opened his eyes. His bedroom was gray with the approaching dawn and his right arm, that was positioned next to his head on his pillow, was slightly cold with the April morning temperature. He was on his stomach and drowsy from his night that was full of dreams. He was up to June of his sixth year.

"Harry!"

"Wha?" Harry hoarsely mumbled into his pillow. He had grown accustomed to sleeping in late. James burst into the room and pulled back Harry's sheets.

"Get up, son!" he exclaimed, throwing clothes at Harry. "Your mum is having the baby!"

"That's nice," Harry murmured sleepily. "Wait, what?" he asked afterwards, sitting up.

"We're having the baby!" James exclaimed again, smiling.

"Having the baby? Having the baby!? I'll get the hot water!" Harry shot out of bed just to be pushed back down by James who gave him an awkward look.

"You're getting dressed," James informed, raising an eyebrow. "And what's this about hot water? We're going to the hospital like normal people do!"

"Hospital, yes, we have babies in hospitals nowadays!" Harry mumbled, pulling on his jeans clumsily.

James continued to look worried at Harry as the teenager put on mismatched socks. The older man then walked out of Harry's room, cursing Snape once again as Harry shoved his feet into his shoes and grabbed a shirt. His parents were already outside as he stumbled through the front door, pulling his shirt on over his head. He got tangled, however, and stumbled over to the car blindly.

"Harry, love, calm down," Lily instructed, tugging Harry's shirt down as she had done when Harry was little and new at dressing himself.

"Mum! Mum are you alright?" Harry asked as his head broke free from the tangled mess that it was in and he could see his mother standing in front of him and his father loading the suitcase in the boot of the car. "Do you need anything?"

"No thank you, Harry, I have everything," Lily stated, getting into the car as James held the door open for her. Harry scrambled into the backseat and sat in the middle so that he could lean forward and stick his head between his parents in the front seat. Ten minutes later, they were on the motorway, heading toward the hospital.

"Are you alright, Mum? Do you need to prop your feet up? What about breathing? Shouldn't you be breathing? Hee, Hee, Hoo. Hee, Hee, Hoo."

"Harry, mate, shut up!" James exclaimed from behind the wheel, pushing Harry's head away from the front seat.

"Oh, great, James! Scare the baby! Make it question what kind of family it's coming into."

"I think I will, thanks," James replied.

"Hee, Hee, Hoo," Harry continued and the car was in a furry of words as they pulled into the hospital.

Harry wanted to be in the delivery room. He really did. He didn't know why he wanted to be in the delivery room because he agreed with Aiden that his own birth was disgusting, but Harry really did want to be in the delivery room for this one. James and Lily had other plans though. They might have let him in if he weren't so hyper and didn't insist upon being Lily's breathing coach. Instead, Harry was forced to stay in the waiting room where he paced back and forth throughout the day. James came out to check on Harry every now and then. By noon Harry was forbidden to get any caffeine.

Finally, a little before 6:30 PM, James sauntered out into the waiting room, sweat dripping down his forehead and a massive smile on his face. Harry ran toward him expectantly.

"Go say hello to your new sister," James told him, placing his hands upon Harry's shoulders.

"Sister," Harry whispered before side-stepping James and running down the corridor and into his mother's room. Lily looked exhausted, pale, and definitely sweaty, but she also looked happier than Harry had seen her in a long time. She had the air of someone who had just done something brilliant and in her arms was a pink bundle.

"Harry, sweetheart," Lily greeted upon Harry's entrance.

Harry smiled meekly at his mother and slowly came forward, his emerald eyes fixated upon the bundle in her arms. As he came closer, he saw a small, scrunched up face and a mass of black hair.

"Harry, I would like you to meet Ashley Marissa," Lily introduced, pulling back the pink blanket a bit so that Harry could get a better look. "Ashley, this is your big brother, Harry," she continued. "He's going to love and protect you."

Harry offered a finger to the infant who curled her whole hand around it. James entered the room, smiled at his children and wife and sat down at a nearby table with a bit of parchment.

"Would you like to hold her, Harry?" Lily asked, gazing up at her son.

Harry watched in amazement as Lily placed the bundle in his arms and instructed how to hold her. Lily settled back against her pillows and watched contently as Harry cooed at Ashley and took her for a walk around the room. Harry paused by the table and read what James was writing over his shoulder. It was a letter to Gwen and Aiden, telling them of the birth. It stated the time of birth, weight, hair color, eye color, even skin color of the baby, but not name or gender. Harry made a mental note to send a proper letter to them later.

Soon after James finished his letter (he went into detail that he and Lily were fine and Harry was wearing mismatched socks ((he then added two paragraphs here, cursing Snape))) he got up and went to the window where a stork awaited.

"A stork?" Harry asked his father, raising an eyebrow. The stork took wing and James came forward and gently took Ashley from Harry's arms.

"Only way to announce a birth," James commented, going over to sit by the bed and coo at his daughter.

Harry rolled his eyes and went to the table, taking some spare parchment and a quill to write to his siblings. The letter came easily.

_Dear Gwen and Aiden,_

_I'm assuming that you two would have opened Dad's letter first (seeing as he just had to send it with a stork, I'm sure the Great Hall is in a riot). I'm also assuming that you two spent a good part of ten minutes cursing said Dad after you read the letter and realized that he did not mention the gender or name of our newest little sibling. I thought about not telling you as well, but I'm not that evil…_

_It's a girl and her name is Ashley Marissa Potter. I think I'll call her Ashes. She's so cute that I just have to nickname her. Plus, I'm hyper, even though I wasn't allowed to have caffeine today. THEY MADE ME WAIT IN THE WAITING ROOM ALL DAY!_

_Anyway, I better wrap this up before I become completely mental. Gwen, say hi to Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Nick for me. And Aiden, give Malfoy hell for me._

_Love from,_

_A Very Proud Big Brother (aka Harry)_

_P.S. Dad's singing Kumbiya for some reason._

Harry folded the letter up and put it in his pocket, making a mental note to send it as soon as he got home. He then got up from the table and went to join his parents and sister, momentarily forgetting that he would be leaving them in less than a month.

**End Author's Note:** Ashley was the hardest Potter sibling to name (for me). When I was plotting this story and making up the characters, Gwen came first and was very easy to name. Nick was next but he was quite hard to name--for awhile, he was going to be named Frey but Nicholas sounded more dignified. Then came Aiden and he was easy too (though he was almost Adrian). But I sat and thought about what to name this baby for a good few days. It was Kari who actually picked Ashley, and Marissa was one of the names I was thinking about before the Ashley name came up. It has a nice ring to it anyway.


	10. Move On

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Author's Note:** I've named this chapter 'Move On' by Jet. I love Jet but I don't like the song 'Move On'. This is the first chapter that I really had trouble naming. This chapter is a birthday chapter dedicated to Sara. Oh, and Ron's shirtlessness is an added present for Sara too.

**Gallandro-** I'm glad you like this fic! Harry wanted to spend more time with his parents than Ron, Hermione, and Ginny because he didn't get to be with his parents in his first life and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny weren't that much different in the second life than they were in the first.

**Straycat **-gasps- I skipped over you-falls onto knees- I'm so sorry-hands you a plate of cookies-

**Sara-** I'm not really partial to the name Ashley either, but for some reason, the name fit for this story. And I liked hyper Harry too. I also like drunk Harry. Maybe I should write a one-shot drunk Harry fic for amusement someday?

**The Red-Haired One-** I'm glad I made you laugh!

**Secretly Smiling-** I see you were hoping for a girl, well I'm glad I didn't let you down.

**Pussy Willow Kitten-** Don't be sad -hands plate of cookies-

**Uncreative-** One of the things that I wanted to get across in this story is the 'family' atmosphere, so I'm glad that I have accomplished that. And yes, James was seen more than Lily in the beginning, but as you'll see in this chapter, there's more Lily. James is the dad so naturally, Harry spends more time with him, but when the going gets tough, he goes to his mother.

**Threesadlostogslightlymadsouls-** You have a very interesting name.

**Rommie280-** I'm flattered you like my writing style. And as for the whole returning to the first life-good things can't last forever, therefore he has to go back. I can't explain it much better than I have already because the whole time thing confuses me. There's no more Harry/Ginny in this story, but I do see them as together once everything is said and done. You know they're going to end up married with 12 children eventually. Oh, and I get my inspiration from random brain farts. This one came while I was watching The Butterfly Effect.

**Emuerz-** Another unique name-blushes at brilliant comment-

**Christina-waves-** I hope you're having a brilliant time in the Czech Republic. I'm working hard on betaing your fic, though I still don't know when I'll actually finish it.

**Darak-** So far, you've got everything correct. I don't really know how to answer your questions, really. Hopefully the ending of the story answers them, because like I've said before, I don't understand time travel. Does anyone really? And I think I act as though there are two Harry's in a way. -shrugs-

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything.

Chapter Ten

_Move On_

_"Doesn't look like she's having a good time, now does it?"_

_Sixteen-year-old Harry Potter glared at Voldemort with gritted teeth and enough hatred to shock Satan. A year ago, he hadn't had enough hatred to kill Bellatrix; but now, Harry was certain that he could kill his best friend just by imagining Voldemort's head upon his shoulders. Too damn bad he was wandless at the moment._

_Harry and the other members of the DA had found Voldemort's hideout almost by mistake. They had somehow managed to stumble upon the old manor that they were currently in, and they had lasted a good few hours being locked in said manor with a horde of Death Eaters who were set loose by Voldemort to have some fun with their visitors. It was a game to them._

_Harry had turned himself over to the nearest Death Eater in the hopes that they would let the others go free if they had him. It was a dumb mistake. Harry was taken to Voldemort, removed of his wand, and charmed to stay rooted to the floor. He could move every part of his body as long as it was above his waist. And then he was alone with Voldemort, and Voldemort was having fun._

_The Dark Lord was currently using some charm so that he and Harry could see Harry's friends being chased by joyful Death Eaters as they tried to save him. They were currently watching Ginny who was locked in a room with several male Death Eaters. Ginny was brave at first and fought them with every curse she knew, but then one of the Death Eaters used a spell that caused her shirt to rip away from her, leaving her to stand alone in a corner in jeans and a bra._

_The move had shocked her and she stared at the Death Eaters with wide, fearful eyes as they closed in on her. They were only a few feet away from her when she regained her senses and jinxed them all unconscious. _

_"Damn," Voldemort cursed as they watched Ginny run from the room. "Well, let's see what else is on, shall we?" He waved his wand and the vision suddenly changed to a different room where Luna was strolling around and flinging curses with the ease of someone lazily swatting flies. They watched for several minutes before Voldemort muttered, 'Boring,' and waved his wand again. The scene changed back to Ginny who was wearing a shirt once more and running down a hallway by herself. Voldemort sighed and waved his wand._

_"Ron, don't leave me!"_

_Voldemort smirked and looked at Harry. "What do we have here?" he asked with an interested grin._

_"Bastard," Harry whispered._

_"Well, if it isn't your best friends," Voldemort continued, pretending he hadn't heard Harry._

_Ron was shirtless; he had apparently loaned the garment to Ginny. Hermione was crying and gripping Ron's shoulders. "Don't leave me," she whispered again._

_Ron took a step closer to her so that their bodies touched as he passionately brushed her hair out of her face and her tears off of her cheeks. "I'll never leave you," he whispered back, lowering his head so their foreheads touched. Hermione frantically clung to him, her arms around his waist as Ron cradled her head. Harry could practically see the magic radiating around the two like bolts of electricity as their lips drew ever closer to one another. Harry's heart jumped to his throat as he held his breath for his friends. Shadows were approaching them._

_'No!' Harry thought, wanting to close his eyes but not being able to. 'No, let them have their moment! They deserve their moment!'_

_They never got their moment. Ron was snatched away by two beefy Death Eaters as two others moved in on Hermione with wicked grins._

_"I hate you."_

_"Sorry?" Voldemort turned to Harry who was shaking with rage._

_"I HATE YOU!" Harry screamed._

_Voldemort sneered and came very close to Harry, his wand pointed at Harry's heart. He was practically touching Harry when there was a flash of green and the Dark Lord started shrieking in agony. Harry peered over the skeletal shoulder to see Ron on the other side of the room, his wand nearly smoking at the tip. Voldemort clutched Harry's shoulders for support as the wave of pain passed over him. The moment it was gone, he turned his head and glared at Ron for several seconds before waving his wand in the red head's direction._

_Ron fell to the floor, dead._

"NOOO!" Harry's eyes shot open and stung as blood dripped down into them. He felt sick and made to get up to run to the bathroom but was hindered by a weight on his chest. He wiped the blood from his eyes and nearly screamed when he found that the weight on his chest was exerted by Nox sitting on it. Her fingers dug into him so deeply that he bled and her eyes were nearly all white as she stared at him.

"Nox!" Harry chocked out. _'She's just scared of the blood,' _he told himself desperately. _'She didn't see what I saw. She knows not to read my mind!'_

"Save Ron." Her words were soft and squeaky as if she hadn't used her voice in years.

"What?" Harry asked frantically.

"Save Ron," Nox said again, slightly louder this time. "Save Ron! Save Ron! Save Ron!" She was screaming now, pounding her fists upon Harry's chest. Harry barely noticed Remus coming out of his office and Astrid descending slowly down the stairs. Nox jumped off of Harry's chest and began stomping around the living room.

"SAVE RON! SAVE RON!" She was screaming it in a manic fashion as she jerked about, seeming to be going through some sort of fit. She jumped upon a very high wardrobe as she continued to scream it.

"Nox, get down from there!" Lupin instructed firmly as his youngest daughter continued to scream. Lupin shot a glance to Astrid who nodded and quickly joined her sister upon the wardrobe. The older girl grabbed Nox's arms and held them to her side as she gazed into her eyes in a concentrating manner.

"Astrid, no!" Harry shouted from the couch, but it was too late. Astrid's eyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent scream as she read her younger sister's mind. Nox calmed her screaming and stared at Astrid as tears streamed down her face.

"Save Ron," Nox chocked once more, very quietly before both girls lost consciousness and fell from the wardrobe.

Harry jolted from the couch to help the girls but his forehead seared with pain after he had taken two steps and he ended up falling to the ground as the world around him went black.

He awoke what appeared to be hours later. He was back in his own bed and his room was dark. Harry turned his head slightly to the left and saw that his mother was sitting by his bed, hunched over so that her head rested on the mattress as her hand lightly covered Harry's arm in a protective manner.

He sat up slowly as to not wake his mother as he processed his latest dreams. The Order had arrived moments after Ron's death and the Death Eaters and Voldemort had fled just as fast. The months after that were hell. Hermione and Ginny were both hollow shells, barely eating or sleeping and spending a good deal of time crying. Harry grew weak and the world fell into a sort of depression as Voldemort gained more and more power. And then Harry discovered the time altering book and devoted the whole of his seventh year getting it to work.

Harry sighed and got up from his bed. The memories were over; he just needed to figure out what to change. He was about to start pacing his room when it hit him. "Save Ron," he whispered. But how? Harry chuckled as a mental vision of Dobby equipped with a machine gun popped into the room with Voldemort and Harry and killed Voldemort while exclaiming, "Die, evil being!", but that was too ludicrous of an idea.

_'And sometimes, you're too busy watching your back that you forget to watch your front.'_

Voldemort's words echoed throughout Harry's mind. Voldemort's body was facing Harry when Ron came, but Voldemort's head was turned, leaving him vulnerable to Harry.

"They took my wand but they didn't check for any other weapon," Harry whispered again. Within moments, he was at his desk and taking out a piece of parchment and a quill. He paused for a moment before writing.

_Dear…er…Me,_

Harry spent hours on the letter, explaining what had happened and what will happen and what should happen.

_Ron will come up behind Voldemort and try to kill him with an unforgivable curse, but the curse will be too weak and will only hurt Voldemort enough to grab onto your shoulders for support. The pain will subside within a minute and Voldemort will continue to have his body face you but will turn his head to glare at Ron while he kills him. _

_We can stop this if you listen to me. The summer before sixth year, you should buy a good pocket knife. Keep that knife with you at all times. When Voldemort clutches your shoulders in agony, slowly take the knife out of your pocket. And as soon as Voldemort starts to turn his head toward Ron, stab him as fast and as much as you can._

Harry finished the letter with some words of encouragement. Then, as a second thought, Harry got another piece of parchment where he explained what Lily and James were like. It was nearly dawn when he finished and had sealed the two letters.

"How long have you been up?"

Harry spun around in his chair, startled. Lily was sitting up and rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Awhile," Harry replied. "Are Astrid and Nox ok?"

Lily nodded. "Their subconscious's blocked out the memories. What were you doing sleeping over there in the afternoon anyway?"

"Ashley has kept me up at night with her crying," Harry informed.

"Why didn't you put up a silencing charm around your room?" Lily asked and Harry blushed fervently. He hadn't thought of it. He actually hadn't used magic in what had to be nearly a month.

Mother and son were silent for a long time before Harry voiced a question he had wondered for months.

"Do you keep in contact with Petunia?"

Lily's eyes widened and she made to ask Harry how he had known about his aunt when she remembered the memories that Harry had been having; she was starting to realize that Snape did not poison her son.

"We write each other once a year out of respect for our parents," Lily answered coolly. "Why do you ask?"

Harry paused and looked at his feet, choosing his words carefully. "We need to pay them a visit soon."

"Why?"

Harry showed her the sealed letters. "Remember what I said about needing to leave a message for when I go back?"

Lily nodded.

"I need to hide this under a loose floorboard in my old bedroom. No one knows about it so it'll be undisturbed until I find it."

Lily was silent for a moment before hunching forward as her shoulders heaved with sobs.

"My babies!" she whispered. "Three not going to exist and my eldest to live a life of misery!"

Harry went to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "It wasn't that bad!" he comforted. "I had my friends. There were happy moments."

"You must have been lonely!" Lily wailed.

"I was only lonely when I realized that I was the only Marauder child," Harry admitted.

Lily sat up and sniffed, a small smile crossing her face.

"You weren't."

"Huh?"

"Sirius had a son when he was nineteen. He didn't know about it, though. The woman was ten years our senior and she was in the Order with us. Sirius speculated that she was, but she told him she wasn't. She confided in me that she was but she didn't want Sirius to know because he was so young and had so much on his shoulders already. A month later, Dumbledore relocated her to France. I received a letter when the baby was born. His name was Seth McDaniel. I didn't hear from them after that and I never told your father or Sirius."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Incase you get lonely-when you go back. You'll know you're not the only Marauder child, and who knows, maybe you'll meet up with Seth?" Lily sighed and wiped her eyes. "I'll call my sister today and let her know that we'll be stopping by tomorrow."

The next morning was bright and sunny as Harry and Lily stepped out of the house and climbed into the car, little Ashley in tow in the backseat. The drive to Surrey was cheerful. They ate breakfast at Mc. Donalds and Harry and Lily sang along with the songs on the radio much to the amusement of Ashley.

They entered Surrey by noon and Harry took over the wheel, amazing Lily that he knew the way to the Dursley's house like the back of his hand.

The yard to number 4 Privet Drive was just as preened as it had been in Harry's memories and he got a somewhat nauseous feeling upon pulling into the drive. Lily looked around at her surroundings with large, curious eyes. Slowly, she got out of the vehicle and wandered to the front door, grasping the straps of her purse tightly.

Harry opened the door to the backseat and took Ashley out of her car seat and grabbed her diaper bag before joining his mother in front of the front door. Lily was staring at the door as if she wasn't really seeing it. Slowly, she raised a shaking finger and rang the bell. Moments later, the sound of Petunia's footsteps sounded.

The door opened with a jerk as Petunia stuck her head out and looked up and down the street to make sure that none of the neighbors were watching before she coolly stepped aside to let her visitors in. The two women stared at one another once the door closed behind Harry. They were all silent.

Harry expected a fight. He expected yelling and obscenities and broken vases. He did not expect both his aunt and mother to break out in tears and collapse into each other's arms. He stared at them in utter disbelief as Ashley flopped around awkwardly in his arms.

"Oh, you little witch! I still hate you so much!" Petunia choked between sobs.

Lily laughed against her sister's shoulder and told her the feeling was mutual. Harry wanted a stiff drink; his mind was racing over the greeting. He was obviously dreaming.

After a few more minutes of the two women embracing, Petunia turned to Harry and Ashley with bright, tear-rimmed eyes. "Are these your children?" she asked Lily, happily.

"Yes," Lily replied, taking Ashley from Harry. "The eldest and the youngest. The middle two are at school."

Petunia slowly extended her hand to Harry in a cautious manner. Harry shook it. "I don't have my wand on me," he informed her. Petunia sighed with relief and engulfed Harry in a hug. Harry nearly passed out from shock. Petunia then went to Lily and cooed over Ashley before leading them into the kitchen where she had prepared tea and biscuits. After an hour or so of polite conversation, Harry asked to use the bathroom and Petunia gave him the directions without hesitation before turning back to Lily to fill her in on the town gossip.

Harry ascended the stares and entered his old bedroom instead of the bathroom. The room was filled with Dudley's junk from over the years and Harry had to push aside a huge and broken TV to get to the loose floorboard. He lifted it up and smiled when he saw that it was empty. He took out his letters, stared at them for a moment, and dropped them in before replacing the board.

His mother and aunt were saying their goodbyes at the front door when Harry returned to the first floor. They had to leave before Vernon came home from work. Petunia gave Harry a quick hug before ushering them out the door and shutting it with a snap before they had taken two steps from it.

Harry shook his head in disbelief and took the keys from his pocket. Twenty minutes later, they were on the motorway, heading back home. The sun was setting and storm clouds were in the distance.

"I didn't expect you two to get along so well," Harry told his mother, breaking the silence.

Lily smiled. "Neither did I, to tell you the truth. But we're sisters, and nothing can change that." Harry's eyes clouded over as he thought of his own siblings and how he would lose them in a matter of days. He was on the verge of tears when his mother spoke again.

"I'm not scared anymore, Harry. This will work and you'll be alright. As for your brother and sisters-they may not be Potters when you go back, but I don't think they won't exist. They'll be there-somewhere."

Harry looked at his mother, smiled, then spent the rest of the trip in silence. He had three days left.

**Author's Note: **I said I wouldn't rush the ending, but I think I did anyway though I didn't have much more than this plotted out. -shrugs- I kind of rushed through the whole story if you think about it. I could have elaborated on so much more, but I didn't. I also realized that if you didn't read the AN's in this fic, you might be somewhat confused because I used those to explain what I didn't elaborate. One more chapter to go!


	11. When I Come Around

**Harry Potter was an Only Child**

_By Siriusly Amused_

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own the stuff you recognize.

Chapter Eleven

_When I Come Around_

May 7th dawned bright and cool. Harry watched the sun rise through his bedroom window. He felt numb. Too many emotions were running through him for him to pick just one. It was D-day. He didn't know what would happen or when it would happen. All he knew was that he wanted to scream.

Once the sun had completely risen, he went downstairs to find his parents at the table, sipping black coffee. They looked like they hadn't slept all night. Harry joined them at the table and they were all silent for several hours before James and Lily started giving him pointers for his adulthood.

"Don't buy a Muggle engagement ring. The jewelry store in Diagon Alley makes rings that specialize in keeping the magic in the relationship."

"Don't wear a tie when your wife is giving birth. She'll end up strangling you."

"James!"

"I'm only telling the boy the facts!"

Harry excused himself from his parents once evening came and searched his room for his wand. He cursed when he didn't find it.

"Language, Harry," Lily stated with a smile, coming into his bedroom. Harry offered her a half smile before explaining that he couldn't find his wand.

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere," Lily stated, eyeing the mounds of dirty clothes scattered around Harry's room. "What do you need it for?"

"I want to go to Hogwarts. To see Gwen and Aiden," Harry replied moodily.

"Take the Floo," Lily instructed kindly. "I'll look for your wand while you're gone." Harry nodded and turned to leave when Lily took a hold of his shoulder and slowly turned him to face her. She stared at him sadly for a moment before standing on her tip toe and placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I love you," she whispered.

Harry took her hand and placed it upon his scar. "I know," he replied before turning on his heel and running down to the living room. He threw a fistful of Floo powder into the fireplace before jumping in and shouting out, 'Hogwarts'. The familiar rushing came over him as he tucked in his elbows. A minute later, he stumbled out of a random fireplace in the school. It took him several minutes before he realized that he could hear screams throughout the castle. Something wasn't right.

Harry took off down the familiar corridors until he came to Gryffindor Tower.

"Password?"

"Let me in, you wench!"

"How rude! You're not getting in without a password!"

"You want a password? How about I stick my wand up your…"

"Harry!" Ron had just come up behind Harry. He was clutching both Ginny and Hermione's hands. Ron's blue eyes looked up to the Fat Lady. "Thingamabob," he stated and the portrait swung open.

"Ron, what the fuck is going on?" Harry asked as he frantically climbed in after his friends. A scream sounded somewhere in the dormitories.

"He's back," Ron exclaimed, heading toward the fireplace. "You Know Who showed up at dinner. He had a wand. It looked oddly enough like yours, Harry." Ron was searching the mantle for a pot of Floo Powder.

Harry winced. "Shit."

"He killed a few people then went to the fireplace to use the Floo. He said something about a list," Ron continued, finding the pot behind a cushion of a near by chair.

"Where are my siblings?" Harry asked as the other three inched their way to the fireplace.

"They left already, I think," Ron mumbled, taking a handful of powder. "Went home." Ron threw the powder into the fire and ushered the girls in while handing Harry the jar. Harry watched them escape to the Burrow before he took some Floo Powder and returned home.

He stumbled out of the fireplace in a furry. Angry yells were coming from upstairs. He ascended the stairs two at a time before coming into the nursery. His parents, siblings, Sirius and Nick all stood at the far wall, huddled together as they glared at Voldemort in hatred.

Harry wanted to jump at Voldemort, but something stopped him. He blinked his eyes. The scene before him looked odd. It was slightly fuzzy, as if his vision was going bad by the second. Slowly, Harry came forward and joined his family. They were fading, as was the room around him. Harry reached out a hand to his father, but it went right through him. Small smiles were forming on his family's faces.

"I love you guys," Harry told them. He felt Voldemort probe his mind and he let him. Voldemort cursed as Harry turned around. Everything was just a big blur. Harry smirked. "I win," he told Voldemort. Then everything went black.

For several seconds, Harry couldn't feel anything. Then his senses came back to him. He heard birds chirping. He felt his soft mattress under him and something hard on his stomach. He opened his eyes and saw that it was early evening and that he was lying on his bed in his dormitory with an Advanced Transfiguration book on his stomach. A loud, barking laugh sounded along with the birds and it took Harry several minutes before he realized that the laugh was coming from him.

He ran from his room and into the common room where he found Hermione and Ginny sitting on a couch, studying. Hermione looked slightly tired since NEWTs were apparently right around the corner, but she didn't look like the hollow shell she was in the memories. Harry scanned the crowd for Ron.

"Who are you looking for, Harry?" Ginny asked from the couch. Harry didn't answer her. Instead, his attention was focused on the portrait hole that was opening to reveal Ron coming through, a towel around his neck after just returning from a shower. Harry broke out in a wide grin and plopped into a nearby chair.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned.

Harry beamed at her. "I'm fucking terrific, Mione!"

Hermione gasped at his language and dropped her book.

**Five Years Later…**

"Moody, what are you doing in a Muggle university anyway?" Ron asked exasperatedly.

"I saw that professor in my foe glass! I saw the whites of his eyes, I'm telling you!" Moody replied with a growl as he fought against Ron and Harry's grasps. Ron looked at Harry from over Moody's head and rolled his eyes. Harry fought back a laugh as he continued to lead his old friend out of the university.

"Moody, that man was 90-years-old and half dead. I don't think he's much of a threat," Seth replied, joining the trio and handing Harry a soda. Harry had been more than shocked to find Seth at the Auror Academy. He was even more amazed when Seth had come up to Harry and introduced himself as, 'Seth McDaniel, illegitimate son of your godfather'. They've been good friends ever since.

"He tried to hit me with his cane!" Moody reasoned.

"After you tried attacking him," Ron shot back.

Harry smiled and shook his head as he returned his gaze in front of him. They were nearly out of the building when something caught his eye. A boy, about eighteen years in age, was walking toward them. He was tall and lean and was obviously a sports player by the track pants and school basketball hoodie he wore. His hands were in his pockets and a school bag on his back. He had a strong jaw, sky blue eyes, and a scowl. His ears were double pierced and his hair was jet black and messy.

The boy locked eyes with Harry as he passed him. Harry slowed his step and turned to watch the boy. The boy's head turned around and he continued to stare at Harry as well. They stared at each other for what seemed like minutes before a group of girls rounded the corner and exclaimed, 'AIDEN!' in excited tones.

The boy tore his eyes away from Harry and joined the girls. Harry was rooted to the spot and breathing heavily. He heard Ron and Moody mutter curses under their breaths. They apparently saw the resemblance too. Harry wanted to follow the boy, but; instead, he turned back around and headed toward the front door. There was no point in starting a relationship with a look alike; Harry Potter was an only child.

_Fin_

**Last Author's Note:** I've never finished a multi-chapter fic before. It feels really weird knowing that this fic is slowly going to sink to the bottom of my bio. A bit sad too. I loved this fic. It was highly enjoyable. I'm completely happy with the characters I made, completely happy with the plot, just completely happy overall. I'd just like to thank everyone who has read this fic, whether you've reviewed or not. And to my reviewers: words cannot express my gratitude. Anywho, I brought Aiden back because I love Aiden's character. It's really funny though, because when I first started writing, I was all about Nick and Aiden was just a miniature Harry in my mind. But Aiden's character just took off and demanded my respect and Nick just stepped aside. Some of you might be wondering why Aiden looks exactly the same when he obviously had parents other than Lily and James. The answer is because I wanted him too. Anywho, I guess that's it. Time for me to try to get back into Hogwarts High and try to update that as much as I did with this story.


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